Transitional refund claims under GST are limited by existing law and limitation; no new refund right arises under Section 142(3).

Section 142(3) of the CGST Act preserves only refund claims that were already maintainable under the existing law and does not create a fresh cash-refund right where none existed earlier. Applying that transitional framework, the refund linked to the 09.05.2019 payment was governed by the limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, with the relevant date being the date of payment; the one-year period had already expired before the COVID exclusion period began, so the claim remained time-barred. The alternative refund routes based on export-related theory and Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules were also found inapplicable.

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Issues: (i) whether the refund claim relating to the amount paid on 09.05.2019 was barred by limitation under the transitional refund framework; (ii) whether Section 142(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 created an independent right to cash refund of credit that was otherwise not availed under the existing law, including on the strength of the COVID limitation exclusion and the export-related refund theory.

Issue (i): whether the refund claim relating to the amount paid on 09.05.2019 was barred by limitation under the transitional refund framework.

Analysis: The claim was treated as a refund of amount paid under the existing law, governed by Section 142(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and, therefore, by the limitation applicable under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The relevant date was the date of payment, and the one-year period had already expired before the COVID exclusion period commenced. The exclusion ordered for the pandemic did not revive a claim that had already become time-barred. The amount paid under the 09.05.2019 challan was also treated as one for which credit could have been taken only within the prescribed period under the earlier CENVAT scheme.

Conclusion: The refund claim of Rs.3,94,708/- was time-barred and was not allowable in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): whether Section 142(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 created an independent right to cash refund of credit that was otherwise not availed under the existing law, including on the strength of the COVID limitation exclusion and the export-related refund theory.

Analysis: Section 142(3) was held to be a transitional provision that preserves only claims already maintainable under the existing law and does not create a fresh right to refund where no such entitlement existed earlier or where the right had already been lost. The claim could not be sustained on the basis of the EODC, because the amount paid pursuant to the customs obligation was not shown to be a refund claim under the Customs Act, 1962. The export-based refund route under Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 was also not applicable on the facts found.

Conclusion: No independent entitlement to refund arose under Section 142(3), and the alternative grounds for refund failed.

Final Conclusion: The impugned rejection of the disputed refund survived judicial scrutiny, and no interference was called for in the appeal.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 142(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 does not confer a new refund right; it only preserves and channels claims that were otherwise valid under the existing law, subject to the applicable limitation.

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