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2023 (3) TMI 1132 - AT - CustomsSeeking refund of the excess additional duty of customs paid - period 26.03.2015 to 22.06.2015 - application was filed beyond the period of one year and hit by time limitation or not - principles of unjust enrichment - HELD THAT:- It is undisputed that the issue was decided by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in its judgement dated 06.08.2018 and the matter was remanded to the original authority to decide the refund on merits. It is also evident from the judgment that the question of limitation was asserted by the Revenue before the High Court and it was not accepted. Therefore, there was no error on the part of either the Assistant Commissioner or the Commissioner (Appeals) in sanctioning the refund without considering the limitation as both authorities were bound by the order of the Delhi High Court. Unjust enrichment - HELD THAT:- By examining what treatment was given to the disputed amount of duty or tax in the accounts, it can easily be verified whether it was passed on, either directly or indirectly, to the customers. In this case it has not been so passed. Learned special counsel for the Revenue vehemently argued that the Chartered Accountant’s certificate cannot be relied upon. However, on a query from the Bench, he could not produce any document whatsoever to either establish the fact that duty has been passed on by the respondent or to show that the Chartered Accountant certificate’s was incorrect. There are no force in this submission of the learned special counsel. In the absence of any evidence by the Revenue on this count, the submission by the respondent that during the relevant period, M/s Naveen Associates were their Chartered Accountants must be accepted. Even otherwise, there is no requirement in law that a certificate must be issued only by the statutory auditors. So long as the certificate is issued by a Chartered Accountant and it is consistent with the accounts such as Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss statement, the certificate deserves to be accepted. The appeal filed by the Revenue deserves to be dismissed - Appeal dismissed.
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