https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=104800 Refund limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act was held to apply because the duty was not paid under protest. Although payment under protest can exclude the limitation bar, Rule 233B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 required a proper letter of protest and compliance with the prescribed procedure. The letters relied upon were treated only as expressions of disagreement, not valid protests, and the assessee continued paying duty without procedural compliance. As there was no substantial observance of Rule 233B, the deeming consequence operated that the duty was paid without protest, rendering the refund claim time-barred. en-us Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:03:13 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=104800 Refund limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act was held to apply because the duty was not paid under protest. Although payment under protest can exclude the limitation bar, Rule 233B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 required a proper letter of protest and compliance with the prescribed procedure. The letters relied upon were treated only as expressions of disagreement, not valid protests, and the assessee continued paying duty without procedural compliance. As there was no substantial observance of Rule 233B, the deeming consequence operated that the duty was paid without protest, rendering the refund claim time-barred. Case-Laws Central Excise Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=104800