SAD refund cannot be denied when VAT proof was on record and considered before final adjudication of the claim.

Refund of Special Additional Duty cannot be denied merely because proof of VAT payment was filed after the refund application, if the evidence was already on record and considered before final adjudication. Notification No. 102/2007 requires the importer to furnish documents evidencing payment of sales tax or VAT, but the decisive requirement is compliance being verified before sanction of refund, not strict attachment on the filing date. On that basis, denial of refund was held unsustainable and the original sanction was restored.

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Issues: Whether refund of Special Additional Duty could be denied on the ground that proof of payment of VAT was filed after the refund application but was available before adjudication of the claim.

Analysis: Notification No. 102/2007 required the importer to furnish documents evidencing payment of appropriate sales tax or VAT along with the refund claim, and the jurisdictional Customs Officer was to satisfy himself about compliance before sanctioning refund. The documents were on record and were considered by the adjudicating authority when refund was sanctioned. The crucial requirement was availability and consideration of the VAT payment evidence at the stage of deciding the claim, not merely on the exact date of filing of the refund application.

Conclusion: The denial of refund was unsustainable and the refund was rightly granted.

Final Conclusion: The appellate order rejecting the refund was set aside and the original sanction of refund was restored.

Ratio Decidendi: Where proof of VAT payment is available on record and is considered before final adjudication of a SAD refund claim, the refund cannot be refused merely because the supporting document was not annexed on the date of filing.

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