Valid protest under Rule 233B protects refund limitation where addressed to the proper officer under then-applicable jurisdictional rules.

For the pre-clarification period, a protest under Rule 233B was valid if addressed to the proper officer as then defined under the Central Excise Rules, 1944. On that basis, a protest letter sent to the Collector within whose jurisdiction the assessee fell was treated as effective, so the refund claim was not time-barred. The note also records that Section 11B's unjust enrichment requirement remained relevant on the facts, with proof left to the assessee before the Assistant Commissioner, but that point did not affect the limitation outcome.

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Issues: Whether a protest letter addressed to the Collector could be treated as a valid letter of protest under Rule 233B so as to keep the refund claim within time, and whether the refund claim was subject to the bar of unjust enrichment under Section 11B.

Analysis: For the relevant period, the identification of the proper officer had to be gathered from Rule 2(xi) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, because the rule-wise clarification relied upon by the Department was introduced only later. On that footing, the Collector within whose jurisdiction the assessee fell was a proper officer for receiving the protest. The letter dated 29-9-1986 was therefore treated as a valid protest from that date, and the refund claim could not be rejected as time-barred. The separate observation on unjust enrichment only noted the governing requirement under Section 11B and left the factual proof to the assessee before the Assistant Commissioner.

Conclusion: The protest was valid and the refund claim was within time; the Revenue's appeal failed. The observation on unjust enrichment did not displace that result.

Ratio Decidendi: For a pre-clarification period, a protest under Rule 233B is valid if made to an officer who is a proper officer under the then-applicable definition of jurisdiction, and such protest can protect a refund claim from limitation.

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