Service tax refund cannot be denied for missing lorry receipts when export-linked services are proved by reliable certificate-based evidence.

Refund of service tax could not be denied merely because lorry receipts were not produced, where the exporter substantiated the transportation charges through a Chartered Accountant's certificate and the service details were otherwise verifiable. The underlying use of the services for export of goods was not disputed, and the missing receipts were treated as a procedural lapse that could not defeat a substantive refund claim. The departmental approach was also inconsistent with the Board's circular, which recognised difficulty in obtaining lorry receipts and allowed certificate-based correlation. The rejection of refund was therefore unjustified, the order was set aside, and refund with consequential relief was sustained.

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Issues: Whether refund of service tax could be denied for non-production of lorry receipts when the exporter furnished a Chartered Accountant's certificate and the service details were otherwise verifiable.

Analysis: The refund claim was supported by the details of transportation charges already reflected in the show cause notice and by a Chartered Accountant's certificate correlating the transportation charges with the shipping bills. There was no dispute that the services were used for export of goods. The requirement of producing lorry receipts was treated as procedural, and such procedural lapse could not defeat the substantive claim for refund. The departmental view could not depart from the earlier accepted position in the appellant's own case, particularly when the Board's circular recognized difficulty in obtaining lorry receipts and permitted correlation through certificate-based proof.

Conclusion: The rejection of refund on the ground of non-production of lorry receipts was unjustified, and the appellant was entitled to refund.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the refund claim was sustained with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural deficiency in documentary compliance cannot defeat refund where the underlying export-linked service use and payment are established by reliable evidence and the applicable departmental clarification permits such proof.

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