Customs refund limitation runs from rectified assessment, not original duty payment, where correction creates the refund cause.

A refund claim under the Customs Act was not barred by limitation where the original assessment was later rectified under Section 154. The refund dispute arose only after the assessment was corrected pursuant to the Supreme Court's direction, so the cause for refund was treated as stemming from the rectified assessment rather than the original payment of duty. On that basis, limitation under Section 27 could not run from the earlier payment date, and the time-bar objection failed.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim was barred by limitation under Section 27 of the Customs Act, 1962 when the original assessment was later rectified under Section 154 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Analysis: The refund dispute arose only after rectification of the assessment order pursuant to the Supreme Court's direction. Until the assessment was corrected, the question of refund did not arise. Since the refund claim had been made even before rectification, it could not be treated as time-barred on the footing that limitation ran from the original payment of duty.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not barred by limitation under Section 27 of the Customs Act, 1962, and the objection that it was time-barred failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was rejected, leaving the determination that the refund claim was not time-barred.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessment is subsequently rectified, the cause for claiming refund arises from the rectified assessment and not from the original erroneous payment of duty.

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