Double excise rebate on exported sugar disallowed where export exemption had already been granted and departmental adjustment was upheld.

Concessional excise rebate under Notification No. 152/74 could not be retained on sugar already exported outside India and fully exempted under the export rebate notification. The Court held that the same quantity of sugar could not receive both the export rebate and the separate incentive rebate under Rule 8(1), because the export notification had already exhausted the duty benefit on that quantity. A wrongly allowed credit was treated as a rectifiable mistake in the running account, and the revenue's adjustment withdrawing the concession was upheld. The limitation objection did not assist the petitioner on the facts found.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to retain concessional excise benefit under Notification No. 152/74 in respect of sugar exported outside India, and whether the department could withdraw or readjust the rebate on that quantity.

Analysis: The concessional notification under Rule 8(1) granted an incentive rebate on excess sugar produced, while the separate notification under Rule 12 granted full rebate on export sugar. On the facts found, the exported quantity had already enjoyed exemption from the whole of the duty under the export notification, and the same quantity could not also carry the concessional benefit under the incentive notification. The Court treated the wrongly allowed credit as a mistake capable of being corrected in the running account and accepted the revenue's case that the limitation argument did not assist the petitioner on these facts.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to the rebate on the exported quantity, and the departmental adjustment withdrawing the concession was upheld.

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