Refund of central excise duty paid ignoring the benefit of...

Refund of central excise duty paid ignoring the benefit of exemption notification - Merely because the assessee submitted the application for eligibility on 08.01.2012, the claim for duty refund could not be defeated as being time barred. At best, the assessee could be denied the interest, if any accrued on the excise duty paid for the period from July, 2010 to December, 2011. - Non-following of procedural requirement cannot deny the substantive benefit otherwise available to the assessee. - HC