Refund limitation under Central Excise law runs from the payment date; a later public notice does not reset the period.

Refund claims under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act must be filed within six months from the relevant date of payment. Where the amounts were reversed and paid on 29-3-1995 and 25-5-1995, a refund application filed on 16-6-1997 was beyond limitation. The argument that a later public notice should be treated as the relevant date was rejected, as it did not extend or reset the statutory period. The refund claim was therefore time-barred and its rejection was sustained.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and whether the date of the public notice could be treated as the relevant date for computing limitation.

Analysis: The appellants had reversed and paid the amount on 29-3-1995 and 25-5-1995, but the refund claim was filed only on 16-6-1997. The claim was therefore made beyond six months from the dates of payment. The contention that the date of the public notice should be treated as the relevant date was not accepted for the purpose of Section 11B.

Conclusion: The refund claim was time-barred under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the rejection of the claim was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: A refund claim under Section 11B must be filed within the prescribed limitation period counted from the relevant date of payment, and a later public notice does not extend or reset that limitation.

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