Interest on excise duty refund paid under protest runs from the date of payment until refund is granted.

Interest on refund of excise duty paid under protest was payable from the date of payment until the date of refund. The Tribunal applied the statutory refund and interest framework in the light of binding precedent and held that, where duty is paid under protest and refund is later granted, interest is not confined to the period after expiry of three months from the refund claim. The assessee was therefore entitled to interest for the full period between payment and refund.

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Issues: Whether interest on the refund of excise duty paid under protest was payable from the date of payment till the date of refund.

Analysis: The dispute concerned refund of duty that had been deposited under protest and later refunded, with interest alone being refused. The Tribunal followed the later decision holding that where duty is paid under protest and refund is ultimately granted, the assessee is entitled to interest from the date of payment and not merely from the expiry of three months after the refund application. The statutory framework governing refund and interest was applied in the light of the binding precedent relied upon for the assessee.

Conclusion: Interest was payable from the date of payment of duty till the date of grant of refund, and the assessee succeeded.

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