Commissioner of Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise Vs Alkem Laboratories Ltd. (Sikkim High Court)
The case of Commissioner of Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise Vs Alkem Laboratories Ltd. was heard by the Sikkim High Court as a statutory appeal arising from a final order dated 14th September 2023. The order was passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Eastern Zonal Bench, Kolkata, in relation to two excise appeals involving Alkem Laboratories Ltd. and its affiliate, Alkem Health Science. The core issue revolves around the legality of excise duty refunds granted based on an overruled Supreme Court decision.
Background
The appeal was filed under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, by the Commissioner of Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise, Siliguri Commissionerate. The crux of the case is whether excise duty refunds sanctioned based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in M/s SRD Nutrients Pvt. Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Central Excise, Guwahati, [(2018) 1 SCC 105] remain valid after the subsequent overruling by the Supreme Court in M/s Unicorn Industries vs. Union of India [(2020) 3 SCC 492].
Tribunal’s Decision
The CESTAT allowed the appeals filed by Alkem Laboratories Ltd. and Alkem Health Science, setting aside the orders demanding recovery of refunded excise duties. The Tribunal’s decision was primarily based on the timeline of the Supreme Court rulings, highlighting that the refunds were sanctioned when the SRD Nutrients judgment was still in effect. Therefore, the Tribunal held that subsequent overruling in the Unicorn Industries case does not retrospectively affect the legality of the refunds sanctioned.
