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2022 (12) TMI 135 - HC - Central ExciseInterest on refund claim - interest is to be granted from the expiry of three months from the date of fling of the initial refund claimed or from the date of the order of the authority finally granting refund? - section 11BB of CEA - HELD THAT:- The date of fling of application for refund before the Authority is not in dispute. Assuming that the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, in the present case, had proceeded to accept the claim of the Appellant for refund and proceeded to pass an Order in terms of Section 11B(2) of the Act, then in case the amount was not refunded despite such an Order, the Appellant would be entitled to interest on the delayed payment of the refund after the expiry of three months from the date of such an Order. Section 11B, therefore, does not at all envisage an application to be fled seeking refund. The only application, which Section 11B envisages is an application for refund in terms of Section 11B(1) and the only Order that the said Section 11B envisages is an Order under Section 11B(2), where if satisfied, the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner may make an Order for refund of the whole or any part of the duty of excise and interest if any paid on such duty paid by the Appellant. The explanation appended to Section 11BB clearly takes care of a situation, where an Order of refund is made by the Commissioner of Appeals, the Appellate Tribunal or any Court against an Order of the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise under sub-section (2) of Section 11B, such an Order would be deemed to be an Order passed under the said sub-section (2) of Section 11B for the purposes of Section 11BB, that is payment of interest on delayed refund. The tribunal, in its Order impugned wrongly applied the judgement of the Apex Court [2011 (10) TMI 16 - SUPREME COURT] for purposes of denying the benefit of interest on delayed refund by holding that it was not entitled to the same from the date of the application under Section 11B(1), but only after the expiry of three months from the date of the Order of the tribunal dated 10 February 2016, if such applications were fled in terms of the said Order and were disposed of within three months thereof. Appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.
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