Clarificatory circular on intermediary services required refund adjudication to be reconsidered after the prior orders were set aside.

A later clarificatory circular on intermediary services had a direct bearing on the refund claim, and the earlier adjudication had not considered it. The High Court therefore set aside the appellate, original and refund orders and remitted the matter for fresh consideration by the departmental authorities in accordance with law. The authorities were directed to take the circular dated 20.09.2021 into account and allow the petitioner an opportunity to place additional material before a fresh decision is made.

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Issues: Whether the impugned appellate and original orders, along with the refund orders, were liable to be set aside and the refund claim remitted for fresh consideration in light of the later circular clarifying the scope of intermediary services.

Analysis: The dispute turned on whether the subsequent circular explaining intermediary services had a bearing on the refund claim and whether that clarification had been considered in the earlier adjudication. In view of the later circular issued during the pendency of the writ petition, the existing orders required reconsideration. The matter was therefore not finally decided on merits but needed to be examined afresh by the departmental authorities after taking the circular into account and after giving the petitioner an opportunity to place additional material.

Conclusion: The impugned orders and refund orders were set aside and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration in accordance with law, bearing in mind the circular dated 20.09.2021.

Ratio Decidendi: A later clarificatory circular bearing on the substantive classification issue must be considered in refund adjudication, and where it has not been so considered, the matter is liable to be remanded for fresh decision.

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