Refund limitation for duty paid during investigation upheld where claim followed final order and liability stood settled.

Duty paid during investigation was refundable because the amount had not been recovered from buyers and the underlying liability had already been settled in the assessee's favour. The refund application, filed after receipt of the earlier final order, was treated as within time, so the claim was not barred by limitation. The Revenue's challenge to the refund sanction therefore failed and the grant of refund was sustained.

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Issues: (i) Whether the refund claim arising from duty paid during investigation was barred by limitation.

Analysis: The duty had been paid during investigation and was not recovered from the buyers. The underlying liability had already been settled in the assessee's favour, and the refund claim was filed after receipt of the earlier final order. On these facts, the claim was held to have been filed within time and was rightly entertained by the lower authorities.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not barred by limitation and was correctly allowed in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue's challenge to the refund sanction failed, and the grant of refund was sustained.

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