The Allahabad Bench of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that there is no statutory provision for claiming interest on pre-deposit.
The bench of Sanjiv Srivastava (Technical Member) has observed that The amount deposited by the petitioner is pursuant to an interim order passed by the Court and is not in the nature of payment of excise duty and hence, the provisions of the Central Excise Act for refund would not be applicable. Consequently, the provisions of Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act which provides for interest on delayed refund, would not be applicable. It is settled legal position that in the absence of a statutory provision entitling the assessee to interest, a mandamus cannot be issued to the Revenue to pay interest.
The Appellant/assessee has filed an application for refund of rupees fifty lakh deposited on 02.02.2012 as pre-deposit on direction of this Tribunal. The amount became refundable and the appellant filed a refund claim for the same.
The Original Authority has allowed the refund of the amount without any interest. Appellant filed an appeal before Commissioner (Appeals) which has been dismissed as per the impugned order.
The tribunal while dismissing the appeal held that though the petitioner has claimed interest at the rate of 18%, the same is not backed by any statutory provision and hence, the relief prayed in the application to that extent cannot be granted.
Case Details
Case Title: M/s Amkap Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Versus Commissioner of Central Excise & CGST, Allahabad
Case No.: Excise Appeal No.70109 of 2020
Date: 27 January, 2025
Counsel For Appellant: Bipin Garg
Counsel For Respondent: Stuti Saggi
