Excess PLA duty payment under deemed credit scheme was refundable where the prescribed duty split was misstated.

Where deemed credit under the notification was available at 50% but only 45% was mistakenly availed, the assessee paid a correspondingly higher amount from the PLA account. The text treats that excess PLA payment as duty paid beyond the liability prescribed by the notification, not as a mere accounting adjustment. It notes that the lower authorities had not properly examined this effect and states that refund of the excess duty paid from the PLA account was admissible, with consequential relief if any.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to refund of the excess duty paid from the PLA account when, due to a mistaken short availment of deemed credit, duty payment from the CENVAT account stood correspondingly reduced.

Analysis: The notification governing deemed credit required discharge of duty liability in the prescribed proportions from the PLA account and the CENVAT account. The assessee, though entitled to 50% deemed credit, availed only 45% by mistake and consequently paid 55% of the aggregate duty from the PLA account. The excess amount paid from the PLA account was therefore not a mere neutral adjustment but duty paid in excess of the liability actually required under the notification. The lower authorities had not properly examined this aspect.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to refund of the excess duty paid from the PLA account.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and refund was admissible with consequential relief, if any.

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