Refund on finalisation of provisional customs assessment was...

Refund on finalisation of provisional customs assessment was held not to be barred by unjust enrichment. The Court accepted the Tribunal's finding that the differential duty was paid much later and therefore could not have been passed on to customers. It treated the law as settled by the later Supreme Court decision in Hindustan Zinc Ltd., which held that unjust enrichment does not apply to provisional assessment even after finalisation. On that basis, the refund of excess duty arising from reassessment of the provisionally assessed imports was allowed, and the Revenue's appeal was dismissed.

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