Limitation for refund claims runs from final settlement of disputed tax liability, not from the earlier payment date.

Refund of service tax paid under protest on a disputed liability is not time barred where the substantive tax issue has finally ended and the refund claim is filed soon after that finality. For limitation under Section 11B, the relevant date is the date on which the litigation concluded, not the earlier date of payment, when the tax was paid on a contested demand later held not taxable. The objection based on Section 102 did not defeat the claim on the facts stated, and the Revenue had the burden to show that the earlier decision had not attained finality. The refund was therefore held admissible.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Finance Act, 1994, and whether the relevant date for filing the claim was the date on which the dispute finally came to an end.

Analysis: The refund arose from service tax paid under protest on services later held not to be taxable. The substantive dispute on taxability was finally settled on 05.01.2017, and the refund application was filed within about one month thereafter. In such circumstances, the relevant date for limitation under Section 11B was the date when the litigation came to an end, not the earlier date of payment. The objection based on Section 102 of the Finance Act, 1994 did not defeat the claim on the facts found. The observation regarding absence of proof of finality was also unsustainable, as the burden to show that the earlier order had not attained finality lay on the Revenue.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not time barred and the assessee was entitled to refund.

Ratio Decidendi: Where duty or tax paid on a disputed liability is refunded after the dispute is finally concluded, limitation under Section 11B runs from the date of final settlement of the litigation, and the Revenue bears the burden to establish that the earlier decision has not attained finality.

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