Prima Chemicals Vs Commissioner of Customs (CESTAT Mumbai)
The appeal before Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) Mumbai challenged the Order-in-Appeal dated 29.09.2022 passed by the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals), JNCH, Nhava Sheva, which rejected the appellant’s appeal on the ground of non-submission of requisite documents for processing a refund claim. The dispute concerned a refund of ₹4,37,321/- relating to customs duty paid under a Bill of Entry dated 07.12.2019 at JNCH. The container covered by this Bill of Entry was off-loaded at ICD Ahmedabad and cleared under another Bill of Entry dated 21.12.2019, resulting in payment of customs duty twice for the same container.
The appellant filed a refund application in January 2020. The department issued a deficiency memo seeking documents. The appellant responded by email on 11.01.2021 stating that the documents had been submitted to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the DEEC Monetary Cell, where an active alert against the appellant’s IEC was pending. Due to non-submission of documents, the refund claim was rejected by the Adjudicating Authority on 09.02.2021. The Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the rejection, citing failure to submit documents within three days and non-submission of the NOC before the Adjudicating Authority.
Although the alert against the IEC was removed on 20.04.2021 and the appellant submitted proof to the Commissioner (Appeals), it was not considered because it had not been placed before the Adjudicating Authority. The Tribunal noted that the alert was removed only after the Order-in-Original and, therefore, could not have been examined earlier. Without entering into the merits, the Tribunal set aside the impugned order and remanded the matter for fresh adjudication, directing the appellant to submit all relevant documents and requiring the authority to decide the claim in accordance with law and principles of natural justice after granting a proper hearing.
