Input-service nexus already settled for exported services cannot justify denial of accumulated Cenvat credit refund.

Refund of accumulated unutilized Cenvat credit cannot be denied for lack of nexus between input services and exported output services where that nexus has already been settled in the assessee's favour for the relevant services. The earlier appellate basis for rejecting refund had been overturned, and the identical ground could not be used to deny refund for the later period. Consequential relief was available in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether refund of accumulated unutilized Cenvat credit could be denied on the ground that the input services lacked nexus with the exported output services.

Analysis: The rejection was founded on an earlier appellate order disallowing refund in respect of various input services for want of nexus. That earlier basis had subsequently been overturned in the assessee's own case, wherein the nexus issue concerning the relevant input services was treated as settled and refund was allowed. The same ground could therefore not support denial in the present period.

Conclusion: Refund could not be denied for want of nexus between the input services and output services; the assessee was entitled to the consequential relief in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Once the nexus of the relevant input services with exported output services stands settled in the assessee's favour, refund of accumulated Cenvat credit cannot be denied on that identical ground.

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