Unjust enrichment not established where approved sale price excluded excise duty; refund payable to the assessee.

The Tribunal held that the goods were not excisable, noting that the point had already been decided in the assessee's favour in an earlier Tribunal ruling and that the Revenue's challenge disclosed no independent merit. It also held that the refund was not barred by unjust enrichment because the approved sale price accepted by the buyer did not include any element of excise duty, and the duty incidence was not shown to have been passed on. The refund was therefore payable to the assessee and not credited to the Consumer Welfare Fund.

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Issues: (i) whether the goods were not excisable and the Revenue's challenge to that finding could succeed; (ii) whether the refund claim was barred by unjust enrichment and liable to be credited to the Consumer Welfare Fund instead of being paid to the assessee.

Issue (i): whether the goods were not excisable and the Revenue's challenge to that finding could succeed.

Analysis: The finding that the goods were not excisable was already covered in favour of the assessee by an earlier decision of the Tribunal on the same issue. No independent merit survived in the Revenue's challenge.

Conclusion: The Revenue's appeal on excisability failed and was rejected.

Issue (ii): whether the refund claim was barred by unjust enrichment and liable to be credited to the Consumer Welfare Fund instead of being paid to the assessee.

Analysis: The approved price accepted by the buyer did not include any element for excise duty. On the quotation and price approval materials, the duty incidence was not shown to have been passed on to the buyer. Accordingly, the statutory bar of unjust enrichment was not attracted.

Conclusion: The assessee's refund claim was not hit by unjust enrichment and the refund was payable to the assessee, not to the Consumer Welfare Fund.

Final Conclusion: The decision upheld the assessee's entitlement to refund while rejecting the Revenue's challenge on excisability, resulting in relief to the assessee on the refund issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Refund of excise duty is not barred by unjust enrichment where the approved sale price does not include any element of duty and the duty incidence is not shown to have been passed on to the buyer.

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