Delayed excise refund interest runs from the original refund application, not from the later court-directed sanction.

Interest on delayed excise refund under Section 11BB accrues from the expiry of three months after the original refund application under Section 11B(1). The Explanation deeming an appellate or court order as a refund order under Section 11B(2) does not defer the statutory start date for interest. Where the refund was ultimately sanctioned after a High Court direction, the later sanction did not remove liability for interest for the intervening delay. The operative effect is that interest remains payable on the delayed refund from the original application-based timeline, not from the date of the court order.

---

---

Issues: Whether interest was payable on the refund amount under Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 from the date of the original refund application or only from the date of the High Court order and subsequent refund sanction.

Analysis: The refund claim had originated under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and was ultimately directed to be granted by the High Court. Section 11BB provides for interest where refunded duty is not paid within three months from the date of receipt of the refund application under Section 11B(1). The Explanation to the proviso deems an appellate or court order as an order under Section 11B(2) for refund purposes, but it does not postpone the date from which interest becomes payable. Applying the governing principle that interest accrues on expiry of three months from the original refund application, the later sanction of refund after the High Court order did not eliminate the statutory liability to pay interest for the delayed period.

Conclusion: Interest under Section 11BB was payable to the assessee on the delayed refund, computed from the expiry of three months after the original refund application, and not from the date of the High Court's order.

---