Refund claim for concessional taxi-car duty treated as timely where correspondence clearly staked the claim and delay was condoned.

A refund claim linked to concessional duty on taxi cars was treated as timely where the assessee had already corresponded with the Department, expressly stated that refund would be claimed, and the notification allowed extended time on condonation of delay. The Tribunal applied the principle that a refund claim need not follow a rigid form if the assessee has clearly staked the claim and disputed the duty payment. On that basis, the later formal application was viewed as a continuation of the original claim, not a fresh claim barred by limitation under Section 11B, and the refund was held maintainable.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim arising from concessional duty on taxi cars under the notification was barred by limitation under Section 11B, or whether the assessee's correspondence and the subsequent condonation of delay constituted a timely claim for refund.

Analysis: The concessional rate under the notification was available only when the car was registered for use as a taxi and the registration documents were produced within the stipulated period or within the extended period allowed on condonation of delay. The assessee had exchanged correspondence with the Department, intimated that differential duty would be debited if the documents were not received in time, and specifically stated that refund claims would be filed and credit granted. The Tribunal treated this communication as a claim for refund in substance, following the principle that a refund claim need not be in a rigid form if the assessee has clearly staked the claim and contested the duty payment. Since the formal claim followed shortly after condonation of delay and the notification itself contemplated extension of time, the claim was held to be a continuation of the original claim and not a fresh, time-barred claim.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not barred by limitation and was held maintainable in favour of the assessee.

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