Refund of Special Additional Duty cannot be denied by adding a cost structure requirement not found in the notification.

Refund of Special Additional Duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Customs could not be denied for want of a cost structure certificate where the notification did not require such a document. The importer had produced a Chartered Accountant's certificate stating that the duty burden was not passed on, along with evidence of VAT/Sales Tax payment. The authority could examine only whether the incidence of SAD had been passed on and whether the prescribed supporting evidence was furnished; it could not add an extra-statutory condition. Rejection of refund on the ground of non-production of cost structure was therefore unsustainable, and refund was allowed with consequential relief.

---

---

Issues: Whether refund of Special Additional Duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Customs could be denied on the ground that the importer did not produce a cost structure, despite producing a Chartered Accountant's certificate and evidence relating to VAT/Sales Tax payment.

Analysis: The refund notification did not prescribe production of a cost structure certificate as a condition for claiming refund. The importer had furnished a Chartered Accountant's certificate stating that the duty burden had not been passed on to the customer, and the record showed that the Department had accepted the same certificate for some Bills of Entry while rejecting others only on the ground of absence of cost structure details. The only relevant inquiry for sanction of refund was whether the SAD incidence had been passed on and whether the supporting evidence prescribed under the notification was produced. On the facts, the insistence on a cost structure had no legal basis.

Conclusion: The rejection of refund on the ground of non-production of cost structure was unsustainable, and the importer was entitled to the refund.

Final Conclusion: The appeals succeeded and the refund denial was set aside with consequential relief as permitted by law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a refund notification requires evidence that the duty burden has not been passed on, the authority cannot add an extra-statutory requirement of cost structure in the absence of such a condition in the notification.

---