Excise refund limitation controls provisional assessment claims, and no interest arises when the refund itself is time barred.

Refund of excise duty must be claimed within one year under Section 11B unless the assessment is genuinely provisional and time runs from finalisation. A price variation clause by itself did not establish provisional assessment, and even on a deemed provisional basis the price adjustments had been completed long before the refund application was filed, so the claim was barred by limitation and inadmissible. Interest under Section 11BB is payable only where a legally due refund is delayed; once the refund itself is time barred, no interest can be granted. The ruling therefore confirms strict compliance with limitation for excise refunds and denies consequential interest where no enforceable refund survives.

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Issues: (i) Whether the refund claim was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 despite the price variation clause and the plea of deemed provisional assessment. (ii) Whether interest under Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 was payable when the refund itself was held to be time barred.

Issue (i): Whether the refund claim was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 despite the price variation clause and the plea of deemed provisional assessment.

Analysis: Refund of excise duty is governed by Section 11B, which requires filing within one year from the relevant date, unless the assessment is provisional and the period runs from finalisation. The assessee had a price variation clause, but no provisional assessment order had been made under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules. Even assuming the assessments could be treated as deemed provisional on account of the price variation clause, the prices were finally adjusted by October 2001, whereas the refund application was filed only on 24.08.2006. The claim was therefore far beyond the permissible period.

Conclusion: The refund claim was held to be hopelessly time barred and not admissible; the finding was against the assessee and in favour of Revenue.

Issue (ii): Whether interest under Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 was payable when the refund itself was held to be time barred.

Analysis: Interest under Section 11BB arises only when a refund is legally payable and its disbursement is delayed. Once the refund claim was rejected as barred by limitation, no enforceable refund survived on which interest could be computed or paid.

Conclusion: Interest was held not payable; the finding was against the assessee and in favour of Revenue.

Final Conclusion: The refund and the consequential interest claim both failed, and the orders below were set aside to the extent they had granted relief to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A refund of excise duty must satisfy the limitation requirements of Section 11B, and where no legally sustainable refund survives, no interest under Section 11BB can be granted.

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