Re-credit of SAD on DEPB scrips can be allowed even where the scrip has expired, subject to remand.

Re-credit of SAD refunded through a DEPB scrip was treated as permissible on the relevant scrip even if the scrip had expired, because the Board's later circular and instructions did not require the credit to be confined only to a live scrip. The record also noted that manual filing of bills of entry for utilising re-credited amounts reflected contemplation of situations where the scrip was not necessarily valid on the date of re-credit. The matter was therefore remanded to the original authority to allow the re-credit on the relevant DEPB scrip.

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Issues: Whether re-credit of SAD refunded through DEPB scrip was required to be made only on the relevant live DEPB scrip, or could also be made on an expired scrip.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the Board's instructions governing refund of SAD paid through DEPB scrips. The order records that the relevant circular required re-credit to be made on the relevant scrip, but the later circular issued on 13.08.2010 showed that the Board did not insist that re-credit could be granted only on a live scrip. The permission for manual filing of bills of entry for utilising re-credited amounts indicated that the Board had contemplated situations where the scrip was not necessarily live. On that basis, the insistence that credit must be confined only to a live scrip was not accepted.

Conclusion: Re-credit was held to be allowable on the relevant DEPB scrip without examining whether the scrip had expired, and the matter was remanded to the original authority for such re-credit.

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