Rule 9B consequential refunds are outside Section 11B restrictions, allowing repayment of duty paid under protest.

Refunds arising from finalisation of excise assessment under Rule 9B are treated as consequential adjustments and not ordinary refund claims. The amended refund machinery in Section 11B, as explained in Mafatlal Industries, does not control such repayments, and the bar under Sections 11A and 11B does not apply to amounts refundable on final assessment. The assessee's claim for repayment of duty paid under protest was therefore maintainable, and the duty was refundable.

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Issues: Whether refund of excise duty paid under protest, consequent upon finalisation of assessment under Rule 9B, is governed by Section 11B and can be denied to the assessee.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the effect of the amended refund machinery in Section 11B and the later authoritative exposition of the law in Mafatlal Industries. The Court applied the principle that amounts recovered or refunded as a consequence of adjustment on final assessment under Rule 9B stand on a different footing from ordinary refund claims. Such consequential refunds are not controlled by the bar of Section 11A or Section 11B.

Conclusion: The refund claim was maintainable and the assessees were entitled to repayment of the duty paid under protest.

Ratio Decidendi: Refunds arising from adjustment on final assessment under Rule 9B are outside the scope of the refund restrictions in Sections 11A and 11B.

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