Strict limitation for excise refunds bars delayed claims where no statutory power exists to condone the delay.

A refund claim under the Central Excise Act must strictly comply with the limitation period in Section 11B. Where the claim is filed beyond that period, and no statutory provision authorises extension or condonation, the authorities cannot entertain it. A mistake of law does not by itself permit relaxation of the prescribed limitation for refund claims. The operative effect is that time-barred refund applications under the Act remain inadmissible when they do not satisfy Section 11B.

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Issues: Whether a refund claim under the Central Excise Act could be entertained after the limitation period prescribed in Section 11B, and whether delay in filing such claim could be condoned on the ground of mistake of law.

Analysis: The refund claim had been rejected as time-barred under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. No statutory provision was shown authorising the authorities to entertain a refund claim beyond the prescribed limitation or to condone the delay. The reasoning was reinforced by the principle that refund claims under the Act must strictly satisfy the parameters of Section 11B.

Conclusion: The claim could not be entertained beyond limitation and the delay could not be condoned; the answer was against the assessee.

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