Refund of excess excise duty on pre-agreed dealer discounts upheld where unjust enrichment was not proved.

Excess central excise duty paid on pre-agreed dealer discounts was treated as refundable because the discount was known before clearance of the goods and was reflected in ER-1 returns. Unjust enrichment was not established since the dealers were not registered with the Central Excise Department and had not taken Cenvat credit, so the duty burden was not shown to have been passed on. The objection based on the cited self-assessment decision was held inapplicable on these facts, and refund of the excess duty was allowed.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to refund of excess central excise duty paid on discounts allowed to dealers, and whether the claim was barred by unjust enrichment.

Analysis: The discount component was known before clearance of the goods and the appellant had filed ER-1 returns. The dealers were neither registered with the Central Excise Department nor had they taken Cenvat credit of the duty paid. In these circumstances, the burden of duty was not shown to have been passed on, and the objection based on the cited self-assessment decision was held inapplicable on the facts.

Conclusion: The appellant had crossed the bar of unjust enrichment and was entitled to refund of the excess duty paid on the pre-agreed discounts.

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