SAD refund under Notification 102/2007-Cus cannot be denied solely for invoice mismatch when goods are sold as such in substance.

Refund of Special Additional Duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Cus was considered admissible where the imported timber logs were sold in substance as such and the other refund conditions were satisfied. The only dispute was mismatch between customs invoices and customer invoices; the record showed that the total quantity imported and sold matched, and sawing the logs into smaller sizes did not alter their character so as to take the transactions outside the notification. Refund could not be denied merely on invoice mismatch once the claim had otherwise been verified and sanctioned.

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Issues: Whether refund of Special Additional Duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Cus dated 14.09.2007 was admissible when there was a mismatch between the invoices filed with customs and the invoices issued to customers, and the imported timber logs were sometimes sawn into smaller sizes before sale.

Analysis: The refund claim was not disputed on the ground of non-payment of SAD or absence of sale in the local market. The only controversy was the inability to reconcile the invoice particulars Bill of Entry-wise. The record showed that the total quantity imported and sold was the same, and the sawing of timber logs into smaller sizes did not change their character so as to take the sale outside the expression 'as such'. Once the other conditions of the notification were complied with and the refund had initially been sanctioned after verification, denial of refund merely on the basis of invoice mismatch was unjustified.

Conclusion: The refund of SAD was held admissible, and the denial based only on invoice mismatch was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the appeals were allowed with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Refund under Notification No. 102/2007-Cus cannot be denied merely because of invoice mismatch if the imported goods were sold as such in substance and the other statutory conditions for refund are satisfied.

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