Concluded quantification of Cenvat credit cannot be reopened for a second deduction during refund implementation.

Amounts deposited during litigation were treated as pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, and the earlier Tribunal direction had already required refund after deducting Cenvat credit on inputs used in captively consumed clinker. The original 2016 orders had quantified the refundable sums after verification and deduction, and no appeal was filed against that quantification. The Tribunal noted that this earlier direction did not permit a second deduction or fresh re-quantification of the same credit, and any separate dispute on credit admissibility had to be taken up independently. On that basis, the Revenue was held unable to reopen the concluded quantification, and refund as earlier quantified remained payable.

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Issues: Whether the Revenue was justified in re-deducting and re-quantifying Cenvat credit while implementing the earlier Tribunal order directing refund of amounts deposited during litigation.

Analysis: The amounts deposited by the appellants during the pendency of proceedings were treated as pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and the earlier order had already accepted that the refund would be granted after deducting the Cenvat credit availed on inputs used in the manufacture of captively consumed clinker. The original orders passed in 2016 had already quantified the refundable amounts after verification and deduction of the relevant Cenvat credit, and no appeal was filed by the Revenue against that quantification. The Tribunal held that the earlier direction could not be read as authorising a second deduction or fresh re-quantification of the same credit, and that any dispute regarding admissibility of credit had to be pursued separately in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The Revenue was not entitled to reopen the concluded quantification or deduct the Cenvat credit again, and the refund, as earlier quantified, was payable to the assessees.

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