Customs refund with interest follows once appellate relief becomes final and the department has no basis to withhold payment.

A customs refund already allowed by the Appellate Collector and affirmed by the appellate tribunal could not be withheld once the departmental challenge failed and no further proceedings were taken. On that basis, the continued non-payment was unjustified, and the petitioner was entitled to refund of the excess customs duty with interest from the date of the tribunal's order until payment.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to refund of customs duty paid in excess, along with interest for the period of non-payment after the appellate order directing refund attained finality.

Analysis: The refund claim had been allowed by the Appellate Collector and the departmental appeal against that order had been rejected by the appellate tribunal. No further proceedings were taken by the Department. In these circumstances, the respondents had no surviving basis to withhold the amount, and the continued non-payment of the refund was unjustified.

Conclusion: The petitioner was held entitled to refund of Rs. 47,182.32 with interest at 12% per annum from the date of the tribunal's order until payment.

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