TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (5) TMI 1993
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....the appellants demanding erroneous refund of Rs.1,44,78,352/- and wrongfully availed CENVAT credit of Rs.38,03,088/-; Commissioner vide Order dated 29.04.2011 confirmed the demand of Rs.1,44,78,352/- of erroneous refund and Rs.16,93,436/- of CENVAT Credit wrongly availed; on an appeal filed by the appellants, CESTAT vide Final Order No.63197/2018 dated 27.08.2018 set aside the impugned order therein with consequential relief; accordingly, the appellant filed a refund claim for Rs.75 Lakhs being the deposit made during the currency of above proceedings; Assistant Commissioner vide Order dated 10.01.2019 sanctioned the refund but rejected the interest on the same holding that there is no delay in sanctioning the refund and therefore, the appe....
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....- 2023 (4) TMI 433- CESTAT Chandigarh. * Sandvik Asia Ltd. - 2006 (196) ELT 257 (SC). 3. Learned Authorized Representative for the Department takes us through the provisions of Sections 11B and 11BB and submits that there are only two provisions, as far as refunds are concerned under the Central Excise Law, i.e. under Section 11B or under Section 35FF; it is not the case of the appellants that the refund in question falls under the provisions of Section 35FF as the amount deposited by the appellants was not as a pre-condition for preferring any appeal and also was not as per the direction of an Appellate Authority or Tribunal or the Hon'ble High Courts. He submits that Hon'ble Supreme Court in many occasions held that statutory requireme....
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.... covered under section 11 B, and refund claim is being sanctioned within three months from the date of filing i.e., 13.11.2018, hence, no interest is payable to the party. 6. We find that though the issue of grant of interest on the pre- deposits has been a subject matter of litigation for long, in a recent judgment in the case of Goldy Engineering Works - (2023) 10 Centax 189 (Del.), Hon'ble Delhi High Court has put to rest the different interpretations on this issue holding that interest is governed only by two provisions i.e. Section 11BB and Section 35FF of the Central Excise Act; in the case of refund of deposit made during the investigation or during the proceedings shall be governed by Section 11B and accordingly, the interest ....
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....rest on delayed refund which is governed by Section 11BB itself prescribes the starting point for payment of interest on delayed refunds to be the date when an application under Section 11B(1) is received. On a conjoint reading of Sections 11B and 11BB of the 1944 Act, therefore, we come to the irresistible conclusion that interest on delayed refund is clearly dependent upon the making of a formal application as stipulated by Section 11B of the 1944 Act. 26. We also find merit in the contention canvassed by Ms. Narain who had submitted that a refund of duty and interest paid thereon is liable to be viewed as distinct from a pre-deposit that may be made in compliance with Section 35F of the 1944 Act. The Circular of the Board too strikes a....
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....would commence from the date of the order of the Appellate Authority as distinct from the making of an application which is prescribed to be the starting point insofar as Section 11BB of the 1944 Act is concerned. 29. Regard must also be had to the fact that in the case of refund of duty, it is also incumbent upon the assessee to declare and establish that the burden of tax has not been passed on. Absent that declaration, any refund that may be made would itself amount to the assessee being unjustly enriched. The making of an application and a declaration to the aforesaid effect is thus not merely an empty formality. This too appears to reinforce the imperatives of an application being formally made before a claim for refund is considered....
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....ions whose prescriptions would necessarily have to be adhered to. However, for reasons aforenoted we find ourselves unable to endorse the observation appearing in Para 34 of the report where a deposit of duty and a pre deposit were considered to be identical concepts. As was noted hereinbefore, a pre-deposit made as a condition of filing an appeal is in any case not considered to be "duty" even by the respondents. 32. The decision of this Court in Team HR Services, had frowned upon the distinction sought to be advocated by the respondents there between a deposit made under protest and a pre-deposit made in connection with an appeal. As would be further evident from a reading of Paras 14 and 15 the counsel appearing for the respondents had....