SEZ refund entitlement upheld despite invoice defects where services were received for authorised operations and tax payment was undisputed.

Refund of service tax under the SEZ exemption scheme could not be denied where the services were admittedly received and used for authorised SEZ operations, and tax payment was undisputed. Invoice mismatches, rubber-stamp corrections, missing originals and variations in service descriptions were treated as curable procedural defects, not grounds to defeat substantive entitlement. The SEZ Act's overriding fiscal benefit and the phrase "used for authorised operations" were applied in a liberal, purposive manner rather than a hyper-technical one. Once receipt of service, tax payment and nexus with authorised operations were established, refund was payable despite documentation deficiencies.

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Issues: Whether refund of service tax paid on services used for authorised operations of an SEZ unit could be denied for procedural deficiencies in invoices and documentation.

Analysis: The refund claim arose from services admittedly received and utilised for the SEZ unit's authorised operations, with service tax payment also not in dispute. The dispute was confined to invoice mismatches, rubber-stamp corrections, non-availability of some original invoices and variation in the description of services. The SEZ Act, 2005 provides fiscal benefits for authorised operations and contains an overriding clause. In that setting, the expression "used for authorised operations" was held to require a liberal and purposive construction, and not a narrow or hyper-technical one. Once receipt of service, tax payment and nexus with authorised operations stood established, procedural defects could not defeat substantive entitlement to refund.

Conclusion: Refund could not be denied on procedural or technical grounds, and the appellant was entitled to refund of the service tax paid in respect of the disputed services.

Ratio Decidendi: Where services are proved to have been received and used for authorised SEZ operations and the service tax payment is undisputed, refund under the SEZ exemption scheme cannot be refused merely for curable documentation defects or invoice discrepancies.

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