Refund relief for tariff anomaly must be reconsidered under later notification when duty was paid without liability.

A refund claim based on duty paid under an incorrect tariff heading had been rejected because of an anomaly in the tariff description. A later notification issued under Section 11C extended refund relief to persons who had paid duty though no duty was payable, and that relief had to be applied to the pending claim. The prior rejection could not stand without considering the notification, and the matter was required to be reconsidered afresh in accordance with Notification No. 35/88-C.E. (N.T.).

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Issues: Whether the rejection of the refund claim could stand in view of Notification No. 35/88-C.E. (N.T.) issued under Section 11C.

Analysis: The refund claim arose from duty having been paid under an incorrect tariff heading because of an anomaly in the tariff description. A notification had subsequently been issued under Section 11C to address the anomaly and to permit refund to persons who had paid duty though they were not required to do so. In that situation, the prior rejection of the claim without applying the notification could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The rejection order was set aside and the refund matter was directed to be reconsidered afresh in terms of the notification issued under Section 11C.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a later statutory notification grants refund relief for duty paid because of a tariff anomaly, a pending or rejected refund claim must be reconsidered in accordance with that notification.

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