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2015 (11) TMI 703 - AT - Central ExciseInterest claim - Delayed refund - whether, the appellant is eligible for interest in terms of Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 for delayed sanction of refund amount beyond the period of three months from the date of filing the claim application - Held that:- Refund application, complete in all respect was filed by the appellant on 20.10.2011 and documents namely, ER-I return and the copy of PLA for the relevant period subsequently desired by the Original Authority and submitted by the appellant pursuant to the remand direction by the Commissioner (Appeals), were all along available with the Departments. Further, I find from the grounds of appeal filed by the appellant that on examination of refund claim, the Range Officer vide letter dated 26.12.2011 had submitted a report to the refund sanctioning authority, stating that the refund claim is admissible to the appellant. Since, genuineness of such report of the Range Officer has not been questioned by the ld. DR for Revenue; I am of the firm view that the date of filing the refund application by the appellant on 20.10.2011 should be taken into consideration for the purpose of determination / computation of the interest liability. Therefore, in view of the fact that the refund application filed by the appellant on 20.10.2011 was ultimately entertained and sanctioned by the original authority on 31.08.2012, which is beyond the statutory time limit prescribed under section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, in my opinion, the appellant should be entitled for interest for the period beyond 3 months from the date of filing refund application, till the date of actual payment of refund amount. In other words, in this case, the appellant is entitled for interest - Decided in favour of assessee.
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