Refund claim time limit for pre-notification exports applied under later notification where claims were filed within one year

Refund claims for exports made before Notification No. 17/2009-S.T. were treated as governed by the later notification rather than Notification No. 41/2007-S.T., where no earlier claim had been filed and the refund application was lodged within one year from the date of export. The earlier six-month limit was therefore not applied to defeat such claims. The admissible portion of the refund claims was accepted for reconsideration, and the matter was remanded for fresh examination on that basis.

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Issues: Whether refund claims relating to exports made before the issue of Notification No. 17/2009-S.T. were governed by Notification No. 41/2007-S.T. or by Notification No. 17/2009-S.T., and whether the claims filed within one year from the date of export were admissible.

Analysis: The refund claims had been rejected by applying the six-month period under Notification No. 41/2007-S.T., while the later notification provided for filing the claim within one year from the date of export. The relevant trade notice, based on the Board's view, stated that the scheme under Notification No. 17/2009-S.T. would apply even to exports made prior to its issuance, provided the refund claim was filed within the stipulated one-year period and no earlier claim had been filed under the previous notification. On that basis, the later notification was treated as applicable to the admissible part of the claims.

Conclusion: The refund claims were held admissible to the extent filed within one year from the date of export, and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration of those claims accordingly.

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