CENVAT credit refund under Rule 5 upheld where the sanction order was reasoned and the appellate reversal lacked independent reasons.

Accumulated CENVAT credit refund under Rule 5 read with Notification No. 27/2012-CE (NT) was held admissible where the claim substantially satisfied the notification conditions, including para 2(h), and the adjudicating authority had passed a reasoned speaking order supporting sanction. The appellate authority's reversal was found unsustainable because it did not record independent reasons and merely echoed the lower authority's findings. The refund sanction was therefore upheld, and the contrary appellate order could not stand.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to refund of accumulated cenvat credit under Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2005 read with Notification No. 27/2012-CE (NT) dated 18/06/2012, and whether the appellate order setting aside the refund could be sustained.

Analysis: The refund claims were examined with reference to the conditions of the governing notification, including para 2(h), and the change in law after introduction of the GST regime. The adjudicating authority had passed a speaking order after considering the relevant conditions and the departmental report, and had accepted that the refund claim was substantially in conformity with the notification. The appellate authority, however, reversed the refund without recording independent reasons and merely reproduced the lower authority's findings to hold the sanctioning order unsustainable. Such a non-reasoned reversal could not stand when the original sanction was found to be logically supported and legally justified.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the refund and the order of the appellate authority was unsustainable.

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