Refund of NCCD after exemption requires proof the duty related to pre-exemption clearances or was wrongly collected.

Refund of NCCD was denied because the claimant failed to prove that the duty was paid on pre-exemption clearances or was otherwise wrongly collected. Although NCCD had been exempted from 17-5-2003, the invoices reflected payment on clearances dated 24-5-2003, and no supporting material showed that the consignments had been cleared before the exemption date. The claim that payment was made at the insistence of departmental officers was also unsupported and was not accepted. On that factual basis, the refund claim was rejected and the dismissal of the appeal was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to refund of NCCD paid on clearances made after the exemption notification, in the absence of proof that the duty related to pre-exemption clearances or was paid under departmental insistence.

Analysis: The refund claim turned on the factual basis for payment of NCCD. NCCD had been exempted by Notification No. 6/2003 dated 17-5-2003, and the appellant asserted that the amount paid represented duty on clearances made prior to the exemption. The invoices, however, showed payment on clearances dated 24-5-2003, and there was no supporting material to establish that the consignments were cleared before 17-5-2003. In the absence of such evidence, the assertion that payment was made at the instance of departmental audit officers could not be accepted.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not proved and its rejection was upheld. The appeal was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A refund of duty paid after an exemption notification cannot be allowed unless the claimant proves that the duty related to pre-exemption clearances or was otherwise wrongly collected.

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