Refund of excess customs duty allowed where an obvious country-of-origin error in the Bill of Entry was promptly corrected.

Refund of excess customs duty could not be denied where the Bill of Entry contained an obvious mistake in stating the country of origin, because the goods were in fact of Nepali origin and the importer promptly sought amendment and refund. The refund claim was verified by departmental and accepted by the adjudicating authority, so the objection that the importer should first have challenged the assessment was rejected. The denial of refund was held unsustainable, the appellate order was set aside, and the refund sanction was restored.

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Issues: Whether the refund of excess customs duty arising from an obvious error in declaring the country of origin in the Bill of Entry could be denied on the ground that no appeal had been filed against the assessment.

Analysis: The goods were found to be of Nepali origin and the declaration of another country was an obvious mistake. The appellant had promptly sought amendment of the Bill of Entry and refund of the excess duty by letter. The refund application had also been verified by departmental officials and accepted by the adjudicating authority. In these circumstances, the objection that the appellant ought first to have challenged the assessment was not accepted.

Conclusion: The denial of refund was unsustainable. The appeal was allowed, the order of the Commissioner (Appeals) was set aside, and the adjudication order granting refund was restored.

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