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TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (6) TMI 742
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....r grant of interest for delayed refunds. Since the issue involved in all the three appeals is similar, all the three appeals are being taken up together for discussion and disposal. For the sake of convenience, the facts of Central Excise appeal No.20441/2020 in the case of General Commodities Pvt. Ltd. are taken. 2. Briefly, the facts of the case are that the appellant is engaged in the manufacture of HDPE fabrics, PP fabrics and PP bags. On 24.06.2009, upon closure of its factory and surrender of Central Excise registration certificate, the appellant had unutilized cenvat credit of Rs. 32,42,381/- and they claimed the refund of this amount on 08.07.2009. The Revenue thereafter issued a show-cause notice dt. 29.07.2009 proposing to reject....
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.... implement the order of the Tribunal with consequential relief and the Tribunal vide its Miscellaneous Order No.20261-20264/2019 dt. 23.04.2019 directed the original authority to dispose the application pending before him within a period of two weeks after receipt of the certified copy of the order. Thereafter the appellant again wrote a letter to the original authority to comply with the direction of the CESTAT within the time frame but instead of complying with the same, the Revenue issued a show-cause notice dt. 15.05.2019 proposing to deny the interest on the ground that the appellant has not filed the appeal against the Order-in-Original and consequently the adjudicating authority does not have the jurisdiction to review / reopen the a....
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....eached a logical conclusion and it was required to be treated as the matter closed or issue settled' is wholly irrelevant and misconceived. Learned counsel further submitted that the lower appellate authority has failed to appreciate that the amount claimed by them was not towards any refund of interest paid by the appellant rather it was a mere claim of interest under Section 11BB for the delayed refund. The said proceedings under Section 11BB is different whereas refund of accumulated cenvat credit was claimed under Rule 5 of CCR, 2004. He further submitted that granting of interest under Section 11BB does not amount to reopening of a decided case as opined by both the authorities. He further submitted that this issue is no more res integ....
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.... The Tribunal vide its Final Order No.20538/2016 dt. 12.07.2016 allowed the appeal of the appellant and the Revenue's appeal before the High Court was also dismissed; hence the decision of the Tribunal attained finality. In spite of that, the appellant had to file again the refund application though the original authority vide its order dt. 25.09.2017 sanctioned the refund but did not grant interest in view of the consequential relief given by the Tribunal. Thereafter the appellant filed a separate application under Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 for claiming the interest for the delay in granting the refund. But the Revenue did not take any action on the application of the appellant and the appellant had to approach the Tribu....
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....ted provisions that Section 11BB of the Act comes into play only after an order for refund has been made under Section 11B of the Act. Section 11BB of the Act lays down that in case any duty paid is found refundable and if the duty is not refunded within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the application to be submitted under sub-section (1) of Section 11B of the Act, then the applicant shall be paid interest at such rate, as may be fixed by the Central Government, on expiry of a period of three months from the date of receipt of the application. The Explanation appearing below Proviso to Section 11BB introduces a deeming fiction that where the order for refund of duty is not made by the Assistant Commissioner of Central E....
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....re not required to wait for instructions from any superior officers or to look for instructions in the orders of higher appellate authority for grant of interest. Simultaneously, Board would like to draw attention to Circular No. 398/31/98-CX, dated 2-6-98 [1998 (100) E.L.T. T16] wherein Board has directed that responsibility should be fixed for not disposing of the refund/rebate claims within three months from the date of receipt of application. Accordingly, jurisdictional Commissioners may devise a suitable monitoring mechanism to ensure timely disposal of refund/rebate claims. Whereas all necessary action should be taken to ensure that no interest liability is attracted, should the liability arise, the legal provision for the payment of ....