Mandatory CENVAT refund debit condition barred later cure, so the accumulated credit refund claim failed.

Refund of accumulated CENVAT credit under Rule 5, read with paragraph 2(h) of Notification No. 27/2012-C.E. (N.T.), required the amount claimed to be debited from the CENVAT credit account when the refund application was filed. The Tribunal treated this debit requirement as mandatory and found that no debit was made in the CENVAT account or reflected in the ST-3 return at the relevant time. A later debit in GSTR-3B did not cure the defect, and the refund claim was therefore inadmissible.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim of accumulated CENVAT credit under Rule 5 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 was admissible when the claimant had not debited the amount from its CENVAT credit account at the time of filing the claim and had not reflected the debit in the ST-3 return.

Analysis: Refund under Rule 5, read with paragraph 2(h) of Notification No. 27/2012-C.E. (N.T.) dated 18.06.2012, is subject to the condition that the amount claimed as refund must be debited from the CENVAT credit account at the time of making the claim. The record showed that no such debit was made when the refund was filed and the amount was later carried into GST transitional credit. The Tribunal found the condition to be mandatory and held that a later debit in GSTR-3B could not cure the default.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not admissible and the rejection of the claim was upheld against the assessee.

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