Service tax refund cannot be denied where invoices stand in a company division's name but the division is not a separate legal entity.

Refund of service tax under Notification No. 17/2009-ST could not be denied merely because the service invoices and payments were made in the name of a division of the exporter company. The division had no separate registration, PAN or legal personality, and was only part of the company itself; the invoicing and payment details were therefore attributable to the company as the real claimant. The objection based on the absence of original invoices did not displace this substantive position. The refund claim was accordingly sustained and the departmental appeals failed.

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Issues: Whether refund of service tax under Notification No. 17/2009-ST was admissible when the service invoices and payments stood in the name of a division of the exporter company, the division not being a separate legal entity.

Analysis: The division was undisputedly part of the respondent company and had no separate registration, PAN, or legal personality distinct from the company. The invoices and payments in the division's name were therefore attributable to the respondent company itself. In such circumstances, refusal of refund merely because the invoices were not issued in the corporate name was not justified. The objection regarding absence of original invoices was noticed, but it did not disturb the substantive finding that the division and the company were one legal entity for the purpose of the refund claim.

Conclusion: The refund could not be denied on the ground that the invoices were issued in the name of the division, and the Commissioner (Appeals) was in allowing the refund claim.

Final Conclusion: The departmental appeals failed and the refund orders in favour of the exporter company were sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: A division of an incorporated company, not being a separate legal entity, cannot be treated as a distinct claimant for refund purposes where the underlying transaction belongs to the company as a whole.

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