The petitioner had credit of CENVAT of a sum of Rs.10 lakh (approx) for the months of April, May, June, 2017. The law entitled assessee
to seek refund of CENVAT credit within a period of one year from year from the date of export. It all started with an application dated
25.10.2017 where the petitioner sought refund of CENVAT credit under Rule 5. With the onset of GST, the petitioner was required to make
a debit to the CENVAT credit account at the time of effecting the claim but the same was disabled and thus the assessee could not apply
for the refund. The petitioner thereafter filed an application for refund under Section 54 of the Act on 17.01.2019. The claim was rejected
as against which a first appeal was filed which also came to be rejected on 30.07.2020. The reasoning set out in the order of the appellate
authority was based on the provisions of Section 54 and the second proviso to Section 142(4) of the Act as well as a circular issued by
the Board on 15.03.2018. The petitioner while not challenging the order of the Appellate Commissioner, made a further representation on
28.08.2020. The impugned order had been passed on 03.11.2010 on the sole ground that, as the order of the first appellate authority
dated 30.07.2020 has attained finality, the question of refund does not arise.
The High Court held that the eligibility of the petitioner to refund on a substantive basis has itself, never been questioned. The denial was
based solely on a technical basis. That apart, the fact that Notification No.27/12 (which propounded credit to be debited from Cenvat
Account) had been held to propound an incorrect condition by the High Court as well as by the CESTAT ought to have merited
consideration with the authority. Instead he does not advert to this aspect of the matter at all. Further, the claim was fully supported by the
provisions of Section 142(3) of the Act. Thus, impugned order was held to wholly incorrect in law and wad held liable to be set aside