Rule 19 export clearance bars later rebate claim under Rule 18; excess payment is refundable only by Cenvat recredit.

Rule 18 and Rule 19 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 operate as distinct export benefit schemes. Where goods are cleared to an SEZ without payment of duty under Rule 19, the exporter's election is final and the same clearance cannot later be converted into a rebate claim under Rule 18. Any amount paid in that situation is treated as a voluntary deposit, so cash refund is not available; the proper mode of return is recredit in the Cenvat credit account.

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Issues: Whether goods cleared to an SEZ under bond and treated as exports under Rule 19 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 could later be subjected to duty payment and rebate under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002, and whether the amount paid could be refunded in cash instead of being recredited in Cenvat credit.

Analysis: The Government held that Rule 18 and Rule 19 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 are distinct export benefit schemes operating in different fields. Once the exporter opts for clearance without payment of duty under Rule 19, that choice attains finality and cannot later be converted into a claim for rebate under Rule 18. The duty paid after such clearance was treated not as duty paid on export but as a voluntary deposit. Relying on the settled principle that an amount not legally payable cannot be retained by the State and should be returned in the manner in which it was made, the Government held that cash refund was not warranted and recredit in the Cenvat account was the appropriate form of return.

Conclusion: The rebate claim was not admissible in cash after clearance under Rule 19, and the amount paid was required to be restored by way of recredit in the Cenvat credit account.

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded in part on the rebate issue, the appellate order was set aside, the original order was restored with modification, and the respondent was entitled only to recredit of the amount in its Cenvat credit account.

Ratio Decidendi: A manufacturer who has elected to clear goods under Rule 19 without payment of duty cannot later claim rebate under Rule 18 on the same clearance, and any subsequent payment made in such circumstances is to be treated as a voluntary deposit refundable by recredit rather than cash.

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