2019 (10) TMI 823 - AT - Customs

Refund applications dismissed for failure to challenge assessment orders. Legal requirement emphasized for refund eligibility.

Coromandel International Ltd. Versus Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax, Guntur

The Tribunal dismissed the appellant's refund applications, emphasizing the necessity of challenging assessment orders for refund eligibility, as per the ... Refund of differential duty - assessment order not challenged - revision of transaction value due to reckoning of dispatch earnings - earning “dispatch earnings” from their overseas suppliers for clearing the goods well in time and thereby freeing vessel - HELD THAT:- As it is now settled by the Larger Bench of the Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of ITC LIMITED VERSUS COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, KOLKATA -IV [2019 (9) TMI 802 - SUPREME COURT] that no refund can be sanctioned without challenging the assessment order whether such assessment is done prior to the amendment to Section 17 of the Customs Act where the assessment had to be done by the officers post such amendment where the assessment is done under self assessment scheme, there are no option but to hold that the appeals are not sustainable and need to be rejected. Appeal dismissed - decided against appellant. Issues:Refund application rejection based on self-assessment, applicability of judgments in light of legal amendments, maintainability of refund applications without challenging assessment order.Analysis:The appellant, a fertiliser manufacturer, imports inputs and receives dispatch earnings from overseas suppliers for timely clearance of goods. Seeking refund of differential customs duty based on dispatch earnings, their refund applications were rejected by lower authorities citing non-challenge of assessment order as per Priya Blue Industries Ltd. judgment. Appellant argued that self-assessment under Customs Act, 1962, doesn't require challenging before Commissioner (Appeals) as per recent legal provisions and cited judgments from Delhi High Court and a CESTAT case. The Departmental Representative supported the lower authorities' findings and referred to the ITC Ltd. case where the Supreme Court upheld the necessity of challenging assessment orders for refund applications.The Tribunal referred to the ITC Ltd. case's Larger Bench judgment, emphasizing that no refund can be granted without challenging the assessment order, irrespective of pre or post-amendment assessment procedures under the Customs Act. The Tribunal concluded that the appeals were unsustainable based on the legal position established by the Supreme Court's decision in ITC Ltd. case. Consequently, the impugned orders were upheld, and the appeals for refund were rejected, with parties directed to bear their own costs.In summary, the Tribunal dismissed the appellant's refund applications, highlighting the importance of challenging assessment orders for refund eligibility, as clarified by the Supreme Court's ruling in the ITC Ltd. case. The Tribunal's decision was based on the legal requirement to contest assessment orders, regardless of the self-assessment scheme under the Customs Act, ultimately upholding the lower authorities' rejection of the refund applications.