State Bank of India Vs Principal Commissioner of Central GST North Commissionerate (Karnataka High Court)
Karnataka High Court held that date of surrender of bank guarantee to be considered as relevant date for the purpose of claiming refund under section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Accordingly, appeal allowed.
Facts- The appellant-State Bank of India is in appeal under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944 praying to set aside the final order bearing No.22877/2017 dated 22.11.20178 passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Bengaluru and to refund an amount of Rs.19,85,4638/- being the excess of amount paid by the appellant towards service tax along with interest.
Conclusion- It is not in dispute that the claim for refund shall be in accordance with Section 11B of 1944 Act. The refund also shall be claimed within one year from the date of payment which would be relevant date. If the right to claim refund arises after expiry of one year from the date of payment, the same is not contemplated under Section 11B of the Act. Therefore, in the said circumstances and in the peculiarity of the present case, we have to hold that the relevant date in the present fact situation would be the date on which, the HAL surrendered Performance Bank Guarantee i.e., 24.08.2009. The intention of the Legislature in prescribing one year to claim refund is to curtail the belated refund or to avoid time barred refunds.
