Accumulated CENVAT credit refund cannot be denied absent Rule 14 disallowance or recovery.

Refund of accumulated CENVAT credit under Notification No. 27/2012-CE read with Rule 5 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 could not be denied where the credit had not been disallowed or recovered under Rule 14. The claim arose from input services used for export of services, and in the absence of any invocation of Rule 14, the credit remained available in the assessee's books. On that basis, rejection of the refund was held unsustainable and the refund was directed to be allowed.

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Issues: Whether refund of accumulated CENVAT credit under Notification No. 27/2012-CE dated 18.06.2012 read with Rule 5 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 could be denied when the credit had not been disallowed or recovered under Rule 14 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004.

Analysis: The refund claims arose from accumulated CENVAT credit on input services used for export of services. The rejection of the disputed portion was not based on any recovery or disallowance of the credit under Rule 14 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004. In the absence of such invocation, the credit remained available in the appellant's books, and the refund of accumulated credit could not be refused on the ground stated in the impugned order.

Conclusion: The rejection of refund was unsustainable, and the refund of Rs. 5,97,465/- and Rs. 6,17,759/- was directed to be allowed in favour of the assessee.

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