The Chennai bench of the Custom, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) quashed the order passed by the adjudicating authority for rejecting the refund claim of educational cess on the ground of barred by limitation and unjust enrichment.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, the appellant assessee was engaged in the manufacture of crude oil. The assessee appealed against the order passed by the adjudicating authority for the rejection of the refund claim of educational cess.
Raghavan Ramabadran, the counsel for the assessee contended that even though the assessee submitted the documents like certificates and other records, the department had not considered these documents while deciding the claim of refund.
It was further submitted that when the tax was paid under a mistake of law refund was admissible irrespective of the period covered by the refund application.
R. Rajaraman, the counsel for the revenue relied on the decisions made by the lower authorities and contended that the refund was barred by limitation as well as was hit by the doctrine of unjust enrichment.
It was also submitted that the refund claim beyond one year from the date of the relevant date in terms of section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and therefore refund claim was barred by limitation.
Further stated that the value of crude oil sold by the assessee includes all taxes and the assessee had failed to prove with documentary evidence.
The bench observed that the rejection of the refund on the ground of limitation and unjust enrichment was not justified and the assessee was eligible for a refund of the claim of the educational cess.
The two-member bench comprising Sulekha Beevi C.S (judicial) and M.Ajith Kumar (Technical) quashed the order passed by the adjudicating authority for rejecting the refund of the claim while allowing the appeal filed by the assessee.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
