Refund limitation under Section 11B turns on the relevant date where excess levy is challenged and appellate relief follows.

Section 11B of the Central Excise Act allows refund claims within one year from the relevant date, and clause (ec) treats the date of the appellate order as the relevant date where duty becomes refundable because of that order. Where amounts collected were in excess of tax liability and the levy had been challenged, the payments were treated as money collected without authority of law and as made under protest. On that basis, the refund claims were not rejected as time-barred, and the claims were held maintainable because limitation was not confined to the dates of supplementary payment.

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Issues: Whether the refund claims were barred by limitation, and what was the relevant date for computing limitation where the amount paid was held to be in excess of the tax liability and the levy had been successfully challenged.

Analysis: The applicable refund framework under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 permits one year from the relevant date, but clause (ec) treats the date of the appellate order as the relevant date where duty becomes refundable as a consequence of such order, while clause (f) applies only where the amount is in fact payment of duty. The order held that the amounts paid were excess collections over and above the tax liability and that the levy had been disputed by the assessee. On that footing, the amounts were treated as not amenable to rejection on a strict limitation basis, particularly in light of the principle that money collected without authority of law cannot be retained by the department and that payment made while challenging the levy is to be treated as under protest.

Conclusion: The refund claims were not barred by limitation and were maintainable; the relevant date was not confined to the dates of supplementary payment, and the refund was rightly payable to the assessee.

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