2018 (9) TMI 1193 - AT - Central Excise

Appeals Deemed Infructuous Due to Adjustments, Interest Issue Remains

The Tribunal deemed the appeals infructuous as the adjustments of sanctioned rebate claims against pending demands were rendered irrelevant upon the ... Adjustment of sanctioned rebate claims with the confirmed demands - Held that:- The assessee’s grievance is against such adjustments, which grievance is no longer available as the refunds have subsequently been sanctioned - As such, the impugned orders have become infructuous and the appeals are required to be rejected on the said short grounds itself. Demand of Interest - Held that:- Inasmuch as there is no interest issue involved in the present appeals, the refunds having been granted, the appellant are at liberty to approach the Revenue for grant of interest and the Original Adjudicating Authority would decide the same independently in accordance with law. Appeal disposed off. Issues involved:Adjustment of sanctioned rebate claims against pending demands, rejection of appeals by Appellate Authority, entitlement to interest on delayed refund claims.Analysis:1. Adjustment of sanctioned rebate claims against pending demands:The appellants filed refund claims of rebate which were sanctioned but then adjusted against pending demands by the Original Adjudicating Authority. The Appellate Authority upheld the adjustments as proper, leading to the filing of appeals by the appellants. The advocate for the appellant argued that the demands against which the rebate claims were adjusted had been set aside by the Tribunal, and subsequently, the Revenue refunded the sanctioned amounts. The Tribunal noted that the impugned orders only addressed the issue of adjustment, which became irrelevant once the refunds were granted. Consequently, the appeals were deemed infructuous and required rejection on this basis.2. Rejection of appeals by Appellate Authority:The appellants, aggrieved by the adjustments made by the Original Adjudicating Authority, filed appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals). However, the Appellate Authority upheld the adjustments as proper, resulting in the appellants filing the present two appeals. The Tribunal's analysis focused on the fact that the impugned orders had become irrelevant due to the subsequent sanctioning of refunds by the Revenue, rendering the appeals moot.3. Entitlement to interest on delayed refund claims:The advocate for the appellant contended that although the refunds were granted, the appellant was entitled to interest on the delayed refund claims. The Tribunal clarified that since the issue of interest was not addressed in the present appeals and the refunds had been granted, the appellant could approach the Revenue for interest. The Original Adjudicating Authority was directed to independently decide on the interest issue in accordance with the law. Therefore, the appeals were disposed of without a ruling on the interest aspect.In conclusion, the Tribunal found that the adjustments of sanctioned rebate claims against pending demands became irrelevant once the refunds were granted by the Revenue. The appeals were deemed infructuous on this basis, and the issue of interest on delayed refund claims was left for the Original Adjudicating Authority to decide independently.