Refund of pre-GST duty under advance authorisation scheme upheld where liability remained traceable to existing law.

Refund of CVD and SAD paid after the appointed day for regularisation of a shortfall in export obligation under an advance authorisation scheme was treated as a claim linked to the pre-GST regime. Section 142(3) of the CGST Act, read with Sections 142(5) and 142(8A), was applied on the basis that refund claims for amounts paid under the existing law must be dealt with under that law. The Tribunal's view that the assessee remained entitled to refund of the duty component was upheld, and the High Court found no perversity or substantial question of law.

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Issues: Whether refund of CVD and SAD paid after the appointed day on regularisation of shortfall in export obligation under an advance authorisation scheme was payable under Section 142(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The assessee had paid CVD and SAD after the commencement of the GST regime for regularisation of the default under the advance authorisation scheme. The Tribunal applied Section 142(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, along with Sections 142(5) and 142(8A), and held that claims for refund of amounts paid under the existing law were required to be dealt with in accordance with the existing law. On that basis, it concluded that the assessee remained entitled to refund of the duty component despite the change in regime. The Court found that this view accorded with law and was not perverse, and no substantial question of law arose.

Conclusion: The refund claim was maintainable and the Tribunal's grant of refund was upheld in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where duties paid after the appointed day represent liabilities traceable to the pre-GST regime, Section 142(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 permits refund to be dealt with under the existing law, and such a finding does not give rise to a substantial question of law unless shown to be perverse.

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