SAD refund and unjust enrichment: Chartered Accountant certificate accepted as sufficient proof of non-passing of duty incidence.

Refund of Special Additional Duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Customs was not barred by unjust enrichment where the importer produced a Chartered Accountant certificate showing that the duty incidence had not been passed on to buyers. Relying on Circular No. 18/2010-Cus, the Tribunal treated such a certificate as sufficient evidence to satisfy the unjust enrichment requirement for SAD refund claims. The refund was therefore allowed.

---

---

Issues: Whether refund of Special Additional Duty was barred by unjust enrichment, and whether a Chartered Accountant certificate was sufficient to establish that the duty incidence had not been passed on to buyers.

Analysis: The refund claim arose under Notification No. 102/2007-Customs dated 14.09.2007 in respect of Special Additional Duty paid on import and later refunded on the premise that the goods were sold on payment of VAT. The Tribunal noted that the assessee had produced a Chartered Accountant certificate confirming that the SAD burden had not been passed on. In view of Circular No. 18/2010-Cus dated 08.07.2010, such certificate was treated as sufficient to discharge the requirement relating to unjust enrichment.

Conclusion: The bar of unjust enrichment did not apply, and the assessee was entitled to refund.

Ratio Decidendi: For SAD refund claims covered by the relevant circular, a Chartered Accountant certificate evidencing non-passing of duty incidence is sufficient to overcome the bar of unjust enrichment.

---