Order date – 18 October 2022

 Facts –

• The appellant, M/s Clariant Chemicals India Ltd. is manufacturer of excisable goods who procured certain inputs such as pigments, poly-ether alcohols etc. from Germany and filed bill of entry on 29.06.2017 as well as cleared the goods upon payment of Customs duty including Countervailing Duty (CVD) and Special Additional Customs Duty (SAD) on dated 10.07.2017 vide challan.
• The goods were received by the Appellant at its factory premises on 19.07.2017 but the said payment of CVD and SAD could not be reflected in the ER-I Return as the due date was already over before the goods reached the factory. 
• Appellant sought for refund of CENVAT Credit under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with Section 142 of the GST Act in this post GST regime as it could not avail the credits accumulated against payment of CVD and SAD.
• The refund sanctioning authority rejected the refund. 
• Aggrieve appellant had filed an appeal.

Issue – 

• Whether the appellant is eligible for refund of against payment of credit of CVD and SAD?

Order – 

• The Tribunal observed that the Appellant’s eligibility to take credit of the duties paid as CENVAT Credit is undisputable and only because of procedural aberration occurred during transition to GST period, Appellant could not take the credits in its electronic ledger in the GST regime, for which it sought for refund such a contingency is perhaps foreseen by the legislature for which contingent provision is well enumerated in Clause 6(a) of Section 142 of the CGST Act that deals with claim for CENVAT Credit after the appointed date under the existing law.
• It is an admitted fact of the parties that the said CENVAT Credit balance was not carried forward to the Appellant’s account on the appointed date since it was not due on the said day also. Therefore, in view of clear provision contain under Section 142(6)(a) of the CGST Act, Appellant is eligible to get the refund of credit by cash except where unjust enrichment is alleged or established against the Appellant.
• The Appellant is also otherwise eligible to go for availment of transitional credit through filing required forms in Tran-I as per the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 22nd July, 2022 but in view of the observation of this Tribunal read with Section 142(6)(a) of the CGST Act that such CENVAT Credit amount shall be paid to the Appellant in cash, it can’t avail dual benefits once order of this Tribunal is duly complied by the Respondent Department by the closing date of the window. 
• Hence the appeal is allowed.