Refund of additional customs duty for vehicle conversion kits: appeals discontinued under litigation policy; refund claims vulnerable to precedent denying recovery

Claims for refund of additional customs duty under concessional notification for vehicle conversion kits are affected by procedural and substantive constraints: where the monetary tax effect falls below thresholds in the National Litigation Policy, appeals may be discontinued as not pressed, resulting in dismissal without adjudication; claims predicated on a chartered accountant certificate that duty burden was not passed and relying on tribunal divergence face the doctrine of unjust enrichment and the finality of unchallenged self-assessment, rendering standalone refund applications unsustainable; consequently, refund allowance is vulnerable to precedent denying recovery when self-assessments remain unassailed.

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Issues:
1. Dismissal of appeals due to tax effect below threshold limit as per National Litigation Policy.
2. Dismissal of appeals regarding refund application(s) based on a previous court ruling.

Issue 1 - Dismissal of appeals due to tax effect below threshold limit:
The Supreme Court dismissed appeals where the tax effect was less than Rs. 25 lakhs, falling below the monetary limits set in the National Litigation Policy. The Revenue-appellant(s) did not wish to pursue these appeals due to the policy. Consequently, the appeals were not pressed and were dismissed in accordance with the Policy notified by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Issue 2 - Dismissal of appeals regarding refund application(s) based on a previous court ruling:
In another set of appeals, the respondent-assessee did not challenge the self-assessment orders but filed refund applications. The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal at Hyderabad allowed the refund applications. However, the Supreme Court, referring to a previous judgment, held that such claims for refund were not maintainable. Citing the case of ITC Ltd. v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Kolkata IV, the Court allowed the appeals, setting aside the Tribunal's orders dated 22-6-2016 & 15-12-2015. Consequently, pending applications were disposed of in line with the Court's decision.

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