PLA balance refund treated as return of deposit, not duty, so Section 11B limitation does not apply.

Unutilized PLA balance was treated as an advance deposit, not as excise duty, until it is actually appropriated towards duty payment. On that basis, refund of the unspent PLA amount was held outside Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, so the one-year limitation did not apply and the refund claim was not time-barred.

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Issues: Whether refund of unutilized PLA balance is governed by Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and therefore barred by limitation.

Analysis: The refund claim arose from balance lying in PLA, which had not been appropriated towards duty. The reasoning accepted that such balance remains an advance deposit until duty is actually debited, and therefore does not assume the character of duty merely because it is kept in PLA. The earlier contrary view based on the cited Supreme Court decision was distinguished on the footing that it did not treat the PLA balance as excise duty. The Tribunal followed its earlier decisions holding that unspent PLA balance is refundable as deposit and that the one-year limitation under Section 11B does not apply to such a claim.

Conclusion: Section 11B was held inapplicable to refund of unutilized PLA balance, and the refund claim was not time-barred.

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