https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=793977 Duty amounts paid under protest retained the character of central excise duty, so the refund claim remained governed by Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The Tribunal held that Section 72 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 could not be used to bypass the statutory refund mechanism. Interest on delayed refund was held payable only under Section 11BB, and only after expiry of three months from receipt of the refund application, not from the original date of deposit. The wider claim for interest from the date of deposit was rejected, but statutory interest at 6% per annum from the post-three-month period was allowed. en-us Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 27 Jun 2026 08:33:55 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=793977 Duty amounts paid under protest retained the character of central excise duty, so the refund claim remained governed by Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The Tribunal held that Section 72 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 could not be used to bypass the statutory refund mechanism. Interest on delayed refund was held payable only under Section 11BB, and only after expiry of three months from receipt of the refund application, not from the original date of deposit. The wider claim for interest from the date of deposit was rejected, but statutory interest at 6% per annum from the post-three-month period was allowed. Case-Laws Central Excise Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=793977