Cash refund of unutilized CENVAT credit denied where no statute expressly authorises refund on factory closure.

Cash refund of accumulated CENVAT credit on factory closure was held inadmissible where the statute did not expressly permit such refund outside export situations. The Tribunal reiterated that fiscal refunds and exemptions require strict compliance with the statutory scheme, and neither hardship nor equity can create a right to cash refund in the absence of express authority. It also accepted that unutilized credit cannot be converted into cash merely because the factory has closed, and that an earlier dismissal of the Revenue's appeal did not amount to a binding declaration of law in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether cash refund of accumulated CENVAT credit was admissible on closure of the factory where the credit remained unutilized and there was no statutory provision permitting such refund except in export situations.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that refund and exemption in fiscal statutes are governed by strict compliance and that substantial compliance cannot override an express statutory prerequisite. It relied on the Larger Bench view that, in the absence of an express provision authorising cash refund of unutilized credit, no entitlement to refund can be presumed merely on grounds of hardship or equity. It also followed the later Tribunal view that accumulated CENVAT credit cannot be refunded in cash when the statute does not permit it, and that dismissal of the Revenue's appeal in an earlier case did not amount to a declaration of law in favour of the assessee.

Conclusion: Cash refund of the appellant's unutilized CENVAT credit was not admissible; the claim failed and the decision was against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: In fiscal matters, cash refund of accumulated input credit cannot be granted unless the statute expressly authorises it, and equitable considerations cannot supply the absence of such statutory sanction.

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