Central Excise Act, 1944
11B. CLAIM FOR REFUND OF DUTY.
(1) Any person claiming refund of any duty of excise may make an
application for refund of such duty to the [ 60 Assistant Commissioner of
Central Excise 60 ] before the expiry of six months [ 61 from the relevant date
61 ] [ 62 [ 63 in such form and manner 63 ] as may be prescribed and the
application shall be accompanied by such documentary or other evidence
(including the documents referred to in section 12A) as the applicant may
furnish to establish that the amount of duty of excise in relation to which
such refund is claimed was collected from, or paid by, him and the incidence of
such duty had not been passed on by him to any other person :
Provided that where an application for refund has been
made before the commencement of the Central Excises and Customs Laws
(Amendment) Act, 1991, such application shall be deemed to have been made under
this sub-section as amended by the said Act and the same shall be dealt with in
accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) substituted by that Act : 62 ]
[ 64 Provided further that 64 ] the
limitation of six months shall not apply where any duty has been paid under
protest.
[ 65 * * * * 65 ]
[ 66 (2) If, on receipt of any such application, the [ 67
Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise 67 ] is satisfied that the whole or
any part of the duty of excise paid by the applicant is refundable, he may make
an order accordingly and the amount so determined shall be credited to the Fund
:
Provided that the amount of duty of excise as
determined by the [ 67 Assistant Commissioner of
Central Excise 67 ] under the foregoing provisions of this sub-section shall,
instead of being credited to the Fund, be paid to the applicant, if such amount
is relatable to –
(a) rebate of duty of excise on
excisable goods exported out of India or on excisable
materials used in the manufacture of goods which are exported out of India ;
(b) unspent advance deposits lying in
balance in the applicant's account current maintained with the [ 67 Commissioner
of Central Excise 67 ];
(c) refund of credit of duty paid on
excisable goods used as inputs in accordance with the rules made, or any
notification issued, under this Act;
(d) duty of excise paid by the
manufacturer, if he had not passed on the incidence of such duty to any other
person;
(e) the duty of excise borne by the
buyer, if he had not passed on the incidence of such duty to any other person;
(f) the duty of excise borne by any
other such class of applicants as the Central Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, specify :
Provided further that no notification under
clause (f) of the first proviso shall be issued unless in the opinion of the
Central Government the incidence of duty has not been passed on by the persons
concerned to any other person.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any
judgment, decree, order or direction of the Appellate Tribunal or any Court or
in any other provision of this Act or the rules made thereunder
or any other law for the time being in force, no refund shall be made except as
provided in sub-section (2).
(4) Every notification under clause (f) of the first proviso to
sub-section (2) shall be laid before each House of Parliament, if it is
sitting, as soon as may be after the issue of the notification, and, if it is
not sitting, within seven days of its re-assembly, and the Central Government
shall seek the approval of Parliament to the notification by a resolution moved
within a period of fifteen days beginning with the day on which the
notification is so laid before the House of the People and if Parliament makes
any modification in the notification or directs that the notification should
cease to have effect, the notification shall thereafter have effect only in
such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, but without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder .
(5) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that any
notification issued under clause (f) of the first proviso to sub-section (2),
including any such notification approved or modified under sub-section (4), may
be rescinded by the Central Government at any time by notification in the
Official Gazette. 64 ]
[ 68 Explanation : For the purposes of this
section, -
(A) " refund " includes rebate
of duty of excise on excisable goods exported out of India or on excisable
materials used in the manufacture of goods which are exported out of India ;
(B) " relevant date" means, -
(a) in the case of goods exported out of India
where a refund of excise duty paid is available in respect of the goods
themselves or, as the case may be, the excisable materials used in the
manufacture of such goods, -
( i ) if the goods are
exported by sea or air, the date on which the ship or the aircraft in which
such goods are loaded, leaves India, or
(ii) if the goods are
exported by land, the date on which such goods pass the frontier, or
(iii) if the goods
are exported by post, the date of dispatch of goods by the Post Office
concerned to a place outside India;
(b) in the case of
goods returned for being remade, refined, reconditioned, or subjected to any
other similar process, in any factory, the date of entry into the factory for
the purposes aforesaid;
(c) in the case of goods to which banderols
are required to be affixed if removed for home consumption but not so required
when exported outside India, if returned to a factory after having been removed
from such factory for export out of India, the date of entry into the factory;
(d) in a case where a manufacturer is required
to pay a sum, for a certain period, on the basis of the rate fixed by the
Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette in full discharge of
his liability for the duty leviable on his production
of certain goods, if after the manufacturer has made the payment on the basis
of such rate for any period but before the expiry of that period such rate is
reduced, the date of such reduction;
[ 69 (e) in the case of a person, other than the
manufacturer, the date of purchase of the goods by such person;] 69
[ 70 (ea) in the case of goods which are exempt from payment of
duty by a special order issued under sub-section (2) of section 5A, the date of
issue of such order; 70 ]
[ 70a ( eb ) in case where duty of
excise is paid provisionally under this Act or the rules made thereunder , the sub-section (2) of section 5A, the date of
issue of such order; 70a ]
(f) in any other case, the date of
payment of duty 68 ]