Home Case Index All Cases Central Excise Central Excise + HC Central Excise - 2017 (12) TMI HC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2017 (12) TMI 627 - HC - Central ExciseRefund claim - amount deposited under coercion - Held that: - the department cannot hold on any amount from the assessee, which the department has no authority in law to retain. If the petitioners had disputed the duty liability at the very outset and promptly taken up the issue with the authorities immediately, the question of the department's authority to withhold such amount would rest on entirely different considerations. The facts of the present case are, however, peculiar. The petitioners having deposited the amount voluntarily and irrespective of what the petitioners now contend, we see no force or coercion. The petitioners did not take up the issue of the duty not being payable for nearly one and a half years. In the meantime, by their conduct and offer, the petitioners stopped the department from carrying out further investigations. There is no reason to direct the department to refund the amount in question at this stage - petition allowed.
|