Special Additional Duty refund limitation runs from resale and VAT payment, not from original duty deposit.

The refund of Special Additional Duty was held not to be time barred where the original refund notification contained no limitation period and the later one-year limit was inserted only by amendment. Limitation was found to commence only when the refund right crystallised on resale of the imported goods and payment of VAT or sales tax, not from the earlier date of SAD deposit. The view that a limitation period cannot be introduced for the first time through subordinate legislation where none existed in the original notification was followed, and rejection of the refund claim on limitation was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim of Special Additional Duty was barred by limitation when filed after one year from the date of deposit of duty, or whether limitation commenced only when the right to refund crystallized on resale of the goods and payment of VAT or sales tax.

Analysis: The original refund notification did not prescribe any time limit. A one-year limitation was introduced only later by amendment. The refund entitlement arose only upon resale of the imported goods and payment of VAT or sales tax, and therefore the period of limitation could not run from the earlier date of deposit of Special Additional Duty. The view that limitation cannot be introduced for the first time through subordinate legislation where none existed in the original notification was followed.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not time barred, and the rejection of part of the claim on limitation was unsustainable.

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