Drawback jurisdiction bar extends to interest claims, keeping CESTAT outside appeals under Chapter X.

Section 129A of the Customs Act excludes from CESTAT's appellate jurisdiction matters relating to drawback under Chapter X and the rules made thereunder. That exclusion extends to claims for interest on drawback as well, because such claims arise directly from the drawback scheme. The fact that drawback has already been paid does not by itself remove the statutory bar on Tribunal jurisdiction. The operative legal point is that a dispute framed as one for interest will still fall outside CESTAT's jurisdiction if it concerns drawback under Chapter X.

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Issues: Whether the CESTAT had jurisdiction to entertain an appeal concerning payment of interest on drawback in view of the bar contained in Section 129A of the Customs Act, 1962.

Analysis: The dispute concerned claims for interest on drawback under Chapter X of the Customs Act, 1962. Section 129A expressly excludes matters relating to payment of drawback provided in Chapter X and the rules made thereunder from the appellate jurisdiction of the Tribunal. Since the claim arose out of the drawback scheme and interest on such drawback, the Tribunal could not assume jurisdiction merely because the dispute was confined to interest. The fact that drawback had already been paid did not remove the statutory bar against Tribunal jurisdiction over matters arising from Chapter X.

Conclusion: The Tribunal had no jurisdiction to decide the claim for interest on drawback, and the appeals by the Department were liable to succeed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute expressly excludes Chapter X drawback matters from the Tribunal's appellate jurisdiction, the exclusion extends to claims for interest arising from drawback under that chapter.

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