Refund under Rule 173L depends on proof of re-melting and re-manufacture; matter remanded for fresh adjudication.

Rule 173L of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 allows refund on returned goods only where the prescribed conditions are met, including proof of re-melting and re-manufacture. The authorities erred by relying mainly on the D-3 intimation entry for return for re-booking without examining the assessee's claim that the goods were in fact re-melted, remade into sheets, and cleared. As re-manufacture was a factual question requiring proper evidence, the matter was remanded for de novo adjudication before the Jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner with an opportunity to establish compliance.

---

---

Issues: Whether the refund claim under Rule 173L of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 was admissible where the returned goods were stated to have been re-melted and re-manufactured, and whether the matter required de novo examination.

Analysis: Rule 173L permits refund where returned goods satisfy the prescribed conditions, including subsequent re-melting and re-manufacture. The authorities below concentrated on the entry in the D-3 intimation showing return for re-booking, without examining the appellant's specific case that the entry was and that the goods were in fact re-melted, remade into sheets, and cleared. As re-melting is a factual question, the claim had to be tested on the basis of the prescribed documents and evidence.

Conclusion: The lower orders were set aside and the matter was remanded to the Jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner for de novo adjudication after giving the appellant an opportunity to establish re-manufacture. The outcome is in favour of the assessee.

---