Finality of classification orders bars collateral challenge in refund proceedings when the statutory appeal was not pursued.

An appealable classification order attains finality if not challenged in the prescribed appellate hierarchy, and that finality cannot be defeated by invoking refund proceedings under Rule 11. The refund remedy operates within the statutory scheme of adjudication and appeal, so it cannot be used to reopen the correctness of an unappealed classification decision. Because classification directly affects levy and collection of duty, allowing collateral challenge would undermine the appellate structure and certainty in duty administration. The assessee was therefore barred from assailing the classification indirectly in refund proceedings, and the contrary view was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether an assessee who did not challenge an appealable classification order could later question its correctness in proceedings for refund of duty.

Analysis: The refund provision under Rule 11 operated within the statutory scheme of adjudication and appeals. The Act and the Rules provided a defined hierarchy, including appeal to the Collector (Appeals) and a further appeal to the Tribunal. Classification of goods was a matter directly relevant to levy and collection of duty, and an order determining classification was an adjudicatory order with statutory finality unless appealed in the prescribed manner. The existence of a refund remedy did not permit reopening of an unappealed classification decision, because that would render the adjudicatory and appellate provisions redundant and undermine certainty in duty administration. An order passed in appeal or revision was treated differently under Rule 11(3), which reinforced the significance of exhausting the appellate remedy where the original order was appealable.

Conclusion: The unchallenged classification order could not be assailed indirectly in refund proceedings; the assessee was barred from reopening the issue. The conclusion was against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Final Conclusion: The refund claim could not be used as a substitute for the statutory appeal against the classification order, and the tribunal's contrary view was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: An appealable adjudication order that is not challenged attains finality and cannot later be collaterally questioned in refund proceedings on the ground that it was erroneous.

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