Customs duty refund claims remain maintainable despite disputed classification when excess duty has been paid under assessment.

Section 27 permits a person who has paid customs duty to seek refund of duty so paid, and it contains no exception excluding claims arising from disputed classification. A refund claim is therefore not barred merely because the importer says the goods were wrongly classified at assessment. The view that the importer was confined only to an appeal against classification was rejected, and the refund claim was held maintainable.

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Issues: Whether a claim for refund of customs duty is maintainable under Section 27 where the excess duty is said to have been paid because the imported goods were wrongly classified.

Analysis: Section 27 enables any person who has paid duty to claim refund of the duty so paid, and its language does not carve out any exception for cases where the dispute arises from classification. A refund claim is therefore not barred merely because the importer challenges the classification adopted at assessment. The view taken by the lower appellate authority that the importer should have pursued only an appeal against classification was not accepted.

Conclusion: The refund claim was maintainable, and the contrary view was incorrect.

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