Central excise rebate denied for missing the export time limit and prescribed procedure under the rebate notification.

Central excise rebate was held inadmissible where exported goods left India beyond the prescribed six-month period from clearance and no extension had been obtained from the Commissioner. Compliance with the rebate notification and Rule 18 was treated as mandatory, and the Board circular could not override that time limit. Although the goods were traceable to the export documents and actual export was not disputed, failure to follow the prescribed export procedure was not regarded as a curable procedural lapse, so rejection of the rebate claim was upheld.

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Issues: Whether rebate under the central excise rebate scheme was admissible when the goods were exported beyond six months from the date of clearance from the factory and the prescribed export procedure was not followed.

Analysis: The rebate claim rested on compliance with the conditions under the rebate notification and Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2004. Although the goods could be correlated with the export documents and actual export was not in dispute, the governing notification required export within six months from the date of clearance, unless the Commissioner allowed an extended period. The claimant had not obtained such extension. The procedural relaxation contemplated in the Board circular could not override this mandatory time condition. The non-observance, therefore, was not treated as a mere curable procedural lapse.

Conclusion: The rebate claim was not admissible and the rejection of the claim was upheld.

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