Rebate of central excise duty on exports must follow duty actually paid, not FOB value, absent contrary prescription.

Rebate of central excise duty on exported goods was to be computed by reference to the duty actually paid on the goods under Rule 12 of the Central Excise Rules, not by substituting the FOB value of the exports. The Tribunal noted that no material showed any prescribed FOB-based computation for the relevant period, and no basis existed for treating FOB value as the measure of duty paid. In the absence of a legal foundation for that substitution, the departmental appeal order could not stand, and the exporter was entitled to rebate on the duty actually paid.

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Issues: Whether rebate of central excise duty on exported goods was to be worked out on the basis of the duty actually paid on the goods or on the FOB value of the export goods.

Analysis: Rule 12 of the Central Excise Rules permits rebate of duty paid on excisable goods. The claim before the Tribunal was for rebate equal to the duty actually paid on the exported pipes and tubes. There was no material showing that the Central Government had prescribed, during the relevant period, that rebate would be confined to any FOB-based computation, and there was also no material to show that duty had been paid on the FOB value of the goods. In the absence of a legal basis for substituting FOB value for duty paid, the departmental appeal order could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The rebate was to be granted with reference to the duty actually paid on the exported goods, not on the FOB value, and the assessee succeeded.

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