Airports Authority of India Vs Principal Commissioner of CGST (CESTAT Delhi)
The appeal challenged an order upholding rejection of a service tax refund claim of ₹30,31,839 on the ground of limitation. The appellant, a registered service provider, had filed the refund claim on 29.08.2022, asserting that excess service tax was paid due to an error in calculating leased land area.
The appellant had entered into an agreement in 1983 with a service recipient for leasing 6500 square meters of land. However, an audit conducted on 05.02.2019 revealed that the actual occupied area was 5169.472 square meters. As a result, service tax had been paid on excess land for the period 2013–14 to 2017–18. The appellant claimed that this excess payment was made under mistake and sought a refund.
A show cause notice dated 20.04.2023 proposed rejection of the refund claim as time-barred under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (as applicable to service tax). The proposal was confirmed by the adjudicating authority, and the appeal against it was dismissed by the Commissioner (Appeals). The appellant then approached the Tribunal.
The appellant argued that the excess payment was not legally due and therefore should not be treated as tax. It contended that Section 11B was wrongly invoked, and that the excess amount could be adjusted or credited under the Service Tax Rules without limitation. It also submitted that all relevant documents, including agreement copies, invoices, tax payment challans, and a confirmation from the service recipient regarding non-availment of input tax credit, had been provided. It maintained that the refund was wrongly denied despite the payment being made under mistake.
