Interest on excise refund requires express statutory authority; once refund is paid, a further payment direction becomes infructuous.

The refund prayer was treated as infructuous because the refund had already been paid in compliance with the earlier Tribunal order and receipt was acknowledged. On the separate question of interest, the statutory scheme under the Central Excises and Salt Act and the Rules contained no enabling provision for interest on refund, and the claim was therefore rejected. The note also reflects the principle that interest on excise refund cannot be awarded unless the governing statute expressly authorises it. The miscellaneous application was disposed of against the applicant on both counts.

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Issues: (i) whether the prayer seeking a direction for payment of the refund survived for adjudication after the refund amount had already been paid; and (ii) whether interest was payable on the refunded amount under the Central Excises and Salt Act and the Rules made thereunder.

Issue (i): whether the prayer seeking a direction for payment of the refund survived for adjudication after the refund amount had already been paid

Analysis: The refund claimed in the miscellaneous application had already been made in compliance with the earlier Tribunal order, and the receipt of the amount was acknowledged by the applicants. In those circumstances, the prayer for a further direction to pay the refund did not survive.

Conclusion: The prayer for a direction to pay the refund became infructuous.

Issue (ii): whether interest was payable on the refunded amount under the Central Excises and Salt Act and the Rules made thereunder

Analysis: The statutory scheme contained no provision for grant of interest on refund under the Central Excises and Salt Act and the Rules. The reasoning was supported by the absence of such a provision in comparable fiscal enactments, while noting that interest provisions existed only in limited situations under other statutes.

Conclusion: Interest on the refunded amount was not payable and the claim for interest was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The miscellaneous application was disposed of against the applicant, with the refund claim having become infructuous and the separate claim for interest rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Interest on refund of excise duty cannot be awarded in the absence of an enabling statutory provision.

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