Refund of Special Additional Duty cannot be denied on vague invoice mismatch or without a show-cause notice.

Refund of Special Additional Duty on imported timber could not be denied on a vague mismatch between sales invoices and the import packing list where the record did not clearly show the quantity rejected or any material discrepancy in the goods. The department also did not dispute that the imported quantity had been sold, and the explanation that the logs were cut for transportation was accepted. Absence of a show-cause notice further deprived the assessee of an effective opportunity to meet the case, so the denial of refund was unsustainable. The impugned orders were set aside and the refund claim succeeded.

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Issues: Whether refund of Special Additional Duty on imported timber sold in the local market could be denied on the ground that the sales invoices did not tally with the import packing list, and whether the absence of a show-cause notice vitiated the denial of refund.

Analysis: The disputed goods were timber logs and the record did not clearly show how the adjudicating authority determined the quantity eligible for refund or in what specific manner the sales invoices failed to tally with the packing list. The department did not dispute that the imported quantity had been sold, and the discrepancy was not shown to relate to any material feature such as variety, shape, dimension, color, markings, or numbering. The absence of a show-cause notice deprived the assessee of an effective opportunity to meet the case, and the appellate stage explanation that the logs were cut for transportation was treated as acceptable. The Tribunal also followed its earlier view on the same issue in respect of the same assessee.

Conclusion: The denial of refund was unsustainable and the assessee was entitled to relief.

Final Conclusion: The impugned orders were set aside and the refund claim succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where refund of SAD is denied on a vague mismatch between packing list and sales invoices without a clear factual basis and without issuance of a show-cause notice, the denial cannot be sustained.

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