Mandatory ARE-1 production governs rebate claims; missing Customs-certified forms can make the rebate inadmissible.

Rebate of duty under Rule 18 requires production of the original and duplicate ARE-1 forms duly certified by Customs with the claim, because those documents are the basis for verifying export and the duty-paid character of the goods. Where the original and duplicate ARE-1 were not produced, the defect was treated as failure to satisfy a mandatory statutory condition, not a curable procedural lapse. On the stated facts, the rebate claim unsupported by the original ARE-1 was disallowed, while the other sanctioned rebate remained undisturbed and the revision succeeded only in part.

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Issues: Whether rebate of duty under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 was admissible when the original and duplicate ARE-1 forms duly certified by Customs were not produced with the rebate claim.

Analysis: The governing procedure under Notification No. 19/2004-C.E. (N.T.) dated 6-9-2004 required the rebate claim to be filed with the original ARE-1 and contemplated verification of the original, duplicate and triplicate copies before sanction. The absence of the original and duplicate ARE-1 deprived the sanctioning authority of the basic document to verify export and duty-paid character of the goods. The defect was therefore treated as a failure to satisfy a statutory condition and not as a merely condonable procedural lapse. On the facts, the claim relating to the ARE-1 for which the original was not produced was disallowed, while the other claim was left undisturbed.

Conclusion: Rebate was not admissible for the claim unsupported by the original ARE-1, but the other sanctioned rebate was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded only to a limited extent and the rebate order was modified accordingly.

Ratio Decidendi: For rebate under Rule 18, production of the original and duplicate ARE-1 certified by Customs is a mandatory condition for establishing export, and its absence renders the rebate claim inadmissible.

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