Court grants petitioners refund of Special Additional Duty, directs prompt processing without costs.

The Court allowed all the writ petitions, granting the petitioners the liberty to file for the refund of the Special Additional Duty paid, as the respondents had decided in principle to refund the duty. The Court directed the concerned authority to process the refund within eight weeks from the application's receipt, without imposing any costs.

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Issues:
Challenge to rejection of request for refund of Special Additional Duty (SAD) through Orders-in-Original/Appellant Orders.

Analysis:
The matter involved in the writ petitions concerned the decision of the respondents to reject the petitioners' request for the refund of Special Additional Duty (SAD) through Orders-in-Original/Appellant Orders. The Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai had previously passed a final order in a similar case, favoring the importer's entitlement to the refund of Special Additional Duty. The respondents, based on the Assistant Commissioner of Customs' instructions, had accepted the CESTAT's order and had sanctioned and disposed of pending refund claims accordingly.

The Court noted the respondents' in-principle decision to refund the Special Additional Duty and, considering this, decided not to delve into the merits of the grounds raised by the petitioners. Consequently, all the writ petitions were allowed, granting the petitioners the liberty to file an appropriate application before the concerned authorities for the refund of the Special Additional Duty paid by them. The Court directed the concerned authority to pass necessary orders for the refund within eight weeks from the date of receipt of the application. No costs were imposed in this regard, and the connected miscellaneous petitions were closed as a result of the judgment.

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