Refund of special additional duty cannot be denied for a procedural endorsement lapse when substantive conditions are satisfied.

Refund of special additional duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Cus. cannot be denied for a mere missing endorsement where the invoices are computer-generated, the sale price is consolidated, and the buyers confirm that no credit has been taken. The endorsement requirement under the notification operates as a procedural safeguard, not an absolute bar, when the substantive condition is otherwise met and the duty element is not separately shown in a manner that permits credit. On that basis, the refund claim was treated as valid and consequential relief followed.

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Issues: Whether refund of special additional duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Cus. could be denied merely because the sale invoices did not bear the prescribed endorsement, when the invoices were computer-generated, the sale price was consolidated, and the buyers confirmed that no credit had been taken.

Analysis: The refund claim was examined against condition 2(b) of Notification No. 102/2007-Cus. and the requirement relating to the additional duty under section 3(5) of the Customs Tariff Act. The invoices produced were computer-generated and contained the relevant endorsement. The sale invoices reflected a consolidated price, so the duty element was not shown separately and there was no realistic possibility of credit being availed by the buyers. The buyers' declarations also confirmed that no credit had been taken. In these circumstances, the endorsement requirement was treated as a procedural safeguard, and the substantive refund entitlement could not be denied when the object of the condition stood fulfilled.

Conclusion: The refund could not be rejected on the alleged endorsement defect, and the appeal succeeded in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The order rejecting refund was set aside and the assessee's claim was allowed with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: A refund under Notification No. 102/2007-Cus. cannot be denied for a mere procedural lapse in endorsement where the sale is on a consolidated price, no credit of duty could reasonably be taken, and the condition's substantive object is satisfied.

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