Refund on damaged returned goods is limited to the second duty payment, not the original duty, under Rule 173L.

Refund on damaged returned excisable goods was confined to the duty paid on the reprocessed clearance, because the original duty on the goods first cleared could not be recovered once the tins had not gone into consumption and the loss arose from transit damage. The return of unopened damaged tins, supported by the D-3 endorsement, established eligibility only to that limited extent. The absence of a police report was immaterial where the return of the damaged goods was undisputed. Rule 173L proviso (iv) governed the scope of refund and barred extension to the duty originally paid.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to refund of duty on Vanaspati tins returned in damaged condition after transit accident, and if so, whether the refund could extend to the duty originally paid or only to the duty paid a second time on the reprocessed goods.

Analysis: The goods were found to have been returned in damaged condition, with the tins not opened, and the departmental endorsement on the D-3 declaration supported the fact that the goods had not gone into consumption. The shortage arose from spillage caused by the damage in transit. In these circumstances, the claim based on the original duty paid on the cleared goods could not be accepted, but the duty paid again on the balance quantity after reprocessing was refundable. The absence of a police report was held to be immaterial when the return of the damaged tins was not in dispute. The restriction in Rule 173L proviso (iv) governed the extent of refund.

Conclusion: The appellant was entitled only to refund of the duty paid a second time and not to refund of the duty originally paid.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded only to the limited extent of refunding the second levy, leaving the original duty payment intact.

Ratio Decidendi: Where excisable goods are returned in damaged but unopened condition and are reprocessed, refund is confined to the duty paid on the subsequent clearance and does not extend to the duty originally paid on the returned goods.

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