Refund claim cannot be denied for non-production of a surrendered Bill of Entry when the record already proves departmental receipt.

A refund claim could not be rejected for non-production of the duplicate Bill of Entry where the record showed that it had already been surrendered to the department under acknowledgement, making re-submission impossible. An authority implementing an earlier appellate order had to give effect to that direction and could not insist again on a document already received by the same department. The rejection on that procedural ground was therefore unsustainable, and the refund was held admissible without re-production of the duplicate Bill of Entry, subject to safeguards against any double claim.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim could be rejected for non-production of the duplicate copy of the Bill of Entry when the record showed that it had already been surrendered to the department under acknowledgement and the earlier appellate order had directed sanction of refund.

Analysis: The earlier appellate order recorded that the duplicate Bill of Entry had been surrendered to the department under acknowledgement, making further production impossible for the assessee. The authority acting on the refund claim was required only to give effect to that order and could not insist again on a document already shown to have been submitted to the same department. Rejection of the refund on that ground was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The rejection of refund was set aside and the refund claim was held to be admissible without insisting on re-production of the duplicate Bill of Entry.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded on the refund issue, and the department was directed to sanction the refund while remaining free to require safeguards against any double claim.

Ratio Decidendi: An authority implementing a prior appellate refund order cannot reject the refund on a procedural ground already answered by the record, especially where the required document had been surrendered to the department under acknowledgement.

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