Refund claim cannot be denied solely for not challenging price list enhancement; merits must be reconsidered under refund provisions.

Refund could not be rejected merely because the assessee had not separately appealed the enhancement of the price list. The prior view that the refund claim was barred by the finality of the valuation order was found unsustainable, and the refund application had to be examined on its merits under the statutory refund provision. The matter was therefore required to be reconsidered by the Assistant Collector under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

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Issues: Whether refund could be rejected merely because the assessee had not challenged the enhancement of the price list by appeal, and whether the refund claim required reconsideration on merits under Section 11B.

Analysis: The rejection of refund based solely on the supposed finality of the price list and the absence of an appeal against the enhancement was held to be unsustainable. The prior reasoning that refund was barred for want of a separate challenge to the valuation order was found incorrect, and the matter required examination of the refund claim on the facts and in accordance with the statutory refund provision.

Conclusion: The refund could not be denied merely on the ground that the price list enhancement had not been appealed against, and the matter had to be reconsidered by the Assistant Collector under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

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