2011 (5) TMI 763 - AT - Service Tax

Judge upholds refund claim sans show-cause notice, dismissing Revenue's appeal. Interest adjustment ruled incorrect.

The judge upheld the impugned order rejecting the Revenue's appeal against the refund claim sanctioning without a show-cause notice for interest ... Rebate claim - interest on delayed payment of service tax was adjusted by the adjudicating authority, for which no show-cause notice has been served on the respondent - Commissioner (Appeals) holding that demand of interest on delayed payment of service tax is not sustainable for want of show-cause notice has attained finality. Therefore, the amount adjusted on account of interest on delayed payment was refunded to the respondent which is a correct view taken by the adjudicating authority, order is upheld and the appeal filed by the Revenue is rejected Issues:Appeal against order sanctioning refund claim without issuing show-cause notice for interest adjustment.Analysis:The appeal was filed by the Revenue against the impugned order where the Commissioner (Appeals) rejected the appeal filed by the Revenue against the sanctioning of the refund claim of the respondent. The respondent had filed a rebate claim which was held admissible and sanctioned. However, after the sanctioning, the demand of interest was adjusted without issuing a show-cause notice. The respondent appealed before the Commissioner (Appeals) on the ground that the interest adjustment was incorrect due to the lack of a show-cause notice. The Commissioner (Appeals) allowed the respondent's appeal. The Revenue then appealed to the Tribunal, which rejected the appeal stating that it had no power to deal with such cases as per the provisions of the Central Excise Act. The Revenue accepted the order and adjusted the interest payable to the respondent. Subsequently, the Revenue filed another appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals), which was rejected on the grounds that the refund had already been sanctioned in consequent to the earlier order by the Commissioner (Appeals).Upon hearing both sides, the judge found that the rebate claim was sanctioned by the adjudicating authority, which was not in dispute. The main issue was the adjustment of interest without a show-cause notice. The Commissioner (Appeals) had previously held that the adjustment was incorrect due to the absence of a show-cause notice. The Tribunal had rejected the Revenue's appeal in the earlier round of litigation, making the Commissioner (Appeals) order final. Therefore, the amount adjusted for interest was refunded to the respondent. The Revenue's appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) was rejected based on the finality of the earlier decision regarding the interest adjustment.The judge found no infirmity in the Commissioner (Appeals) observations and upheld the impugned order, rejecting the appeal filed by the Revenue. The decision was made based on the finality of the earlier orders and the lack of a show-cause notice for interest adjustment.