https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=40658 Where central excise duty is collected under an unlawful demand, the Revenue cannot later justify retention by invoking a different tariff item that was neither validly applied nor recoverable within the limitation period. Payments made under protest during pending proceedings are not voluntary excess payments, and the refund limitation rule does not bar recovery in that situation. The operative principle is that duty collected without a lawful assessment or timely demand cannot be appropriated against a liability that was never validly raised. The assessee is therefore entitled to refund of the additional duty recovered. en-us Mon, 07 May 1979 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 13 May 2010 11:00:50 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=40658 Where central excise duty is collected under an unlawful demand, the Revenue cannot later justify retention by invoking a different tariff item that was neither validly applied nor recoverable within the limitation period. Payments made under protest during pending proceedings are not voluntary excess payments, and the refund limitation rule does not bar recovery in that situation. The operative principle is that duty collected without a lawful assessment or timely demand cannot be appropriated against a liability that was never validly raised. The assessee is therefore entitled to refund of the additional duty recovered. Case-Laws Central Excise Mon, 07 May 1979 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=40658