Union of India & Anr Vs. Kirloskar
Pneumatic Company Limited [1996] INSC 657 (6 May 1996)
Jeevan
Reddy, B.P. (J) Jeevan Reddy, B.P. (J) Sen, S.C. (J)
CITATION:
1996 SCC (4) 453 JT 1996 (5) 26 1996 SCALE (4)317
ACT:
HEAD NOTE:
O R D
E R
Leave
granted.
Heard
the counsel for the parties.
This
appeal is directed against, what is called, "Minutes of the order"
made by the Bombay High Court on 23rd June, 1995. The order reads:
"1
The Petitioners will file an application for refund, in respect of the consignments
imported as referred to in this Petition, in the prescribed form as per the
amended section 27 of the Customs Acts 1962, within 2 weeks from today.
2. The
Respondents will dispose of the aforesaid Refund Claim, on merits, within 10
weeks from the filing of the same.
3. The
Respondents shall not reject the refund application on the ground that it is
time barred.
4. The
Petition is disposed of accordingly.
5. No
order as to costs."
The
Revenue is questioning the validity and correctness of clause (3) of the said
order whereby the High Court has directed the authorities under the Customs Act
not to reject the respondent's application for refund on the ground that it is
time barred and to dispose it of on merits.
The
respondent imported certain goods between February 1983 and July 1985. There
was a dispute between the respondent and the Customs Authorities with respect
to the classification of goods. The duty as demanded by the authorities was
paid by the respondent and the goods cleared. There after, the respondent filed
the refund application. The appellant says that the respondent preferred an
appeal which was rejected by the appellate authority and that instead of filing
the further appeal, the respondent approached the Bombay High Court. The
respondent disputes this statement. He says that he did not file any appeal but
approached the High Court straight away. Be that as it may. The prayer in the
writ petition was to issue an appropriate writ, order and direction to the
Customs Authorities to refund the excess customs duty levied upon the goods
imported by the respondent and collected from it.
The
respondent also claimed interest at the rate cf 18% per annum on the said
order. The writ petition was filed in the year 1987.
The
appellants state that they contested the writ petition but the High Court
passed the impugned 'minutes of the order'. Indeed Mr. Hidayatullah, learned
counsel for the respondent states that the order impugned herein is the
standard order which is usually passed by the Bombay High Court in all such
matters.
In
this appeal we are not concerned either with the maintainability of the writ
petition or its merits. The only contention raised and which we are considering
is whether the direction given by the High Court that the Customs Authorities
"shall not reject the refund application on the ground that it is time
barred", is valid in law. With respect we think that it is not.
In
Collector of Central Excise, Chandigarh v.
M/s. Doaba Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd. Jalandhar [A.I.R. 1988 S.C. 2052 =
1988 (37) E.L.T. 478] this Court had observed:
"6.
It appears that where the duty has been levied without the authority of law or
without reference to any statutory authority or the specific provisions of the
Act and the Rules framed thereunder have no application, the decision will be
guided by the general law and the date of limitation would be the starting
point when the mistake or the error comes to light. But in making claims for
refund before the departmental authority, an assessee is bound within four
corners of the Statute and the period of limitation prescribed in the Central
Excise Act and the Rules framed thereunder must be adhered to. The authorities
functioning under the Act are bound by the provisions of the Art. If the
proceedings are taken under the Act by the department, the provisions of
limitation prescribed in the Act will prevail. It may, however, be open to the
department to initiate proceedings in the Civil Court for recovery of the amount due to the department in case
when such a remedy is open on the ground that the money received by the assessee
was not in the nature of refund.
This
was the view taken by the Tribunal in a previous decision in the case of Miles
India Ltd. v. The Asstt. Collector of Customs but it was assailed before this
Court. The appeal was withdrawn. This Court observed that the Customs
Authorities, acting under the Act, were justified in disallowing the claim for
refund as they were bound by the period of limitation provided therefor in the
relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. If really the payment of the duty
was under a mistake of law, the party might seek recourse to such alternative
remedy as it might be advised. See the observations of this Court in Miles
India Ltd. v. The Assistant Collector of Customs,[1987 (30) E.L.T. 641 (S.C)=
289]." Inasmuch as the earlier decision of this Court in Miles India Ltd.
v. Assistant Collector of Customs [1987 (30) E.L.T. 641 (S.C.)] has practically
been reproduced in the above extract, we do not think it necessary to refer to
that decision.
Section
27 of the Customs Act provides for claims for refund of duty. The section has
been substituted by a new section by Central Act 40 of 1991 (with effect from
September 20, 1991). The amended Section 27 severely curtails the right to
refund but for the purpose of this appeal, it is not necessary to refer to that
aspect. Suffice it to say that sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 27 (both
before and after amendment) provide for filing an application for amendment
within a period of six months of the payment of duty except in a case where it
has been paid under protest. What is relevant herein is sub-section (4) of unamended
Section 27 and sub-section (3) of amended Section
27. It
would be sufficient if we set out the said sub- sections. Sub-section (4) of unamended
Section 27 read as follows:
"27(4)
Save as provided in section 26, no claim for refund of any duty shall be
entertained except in accordance with the provisions of this section."
Sub-section (3) of amended Section 27 reads thus:
"27(3)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any judgment, decree,
order or direction of the Appellate Tribunal or any Court or in any other
provision of this Act or the regulation made thereunder or any other law for
the time being in force, no refund shall be made except as provided in
sub-section (2)".
According
to these sub-sections, a claim for refund or an order of refund can be made
only in accordance with the provisions of Section 27 which inter alia includes
the period of limitation mentioned therein. Mr.Hidayatullah submitted that the
period of limitation prescribed by Section 27 does not apply either to a suit
filed by the importer or to a writ petition filed by him and that in such cases
the period of limitation would be three years. Learned counsel refers to
certain decisions of this Court to that effect. We shall assume for the
purposes of this appeal that it is so, notwithstanding the fact that the said
question is now pending before a larger Constitution on Bench of nine Judges
along with the issue relating to unjust enrichment.
Yet
the question is whether it is permissible for the High Court to direct the
Authorities under the Act to act contrary to the aforesaid statutory provision.
We do not think it is, even while acting under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The power conferred by Article 226/227 is designed to effectuate the law, to
enforce the Rule of law and to ensure that the several authorities and organs
of the State act in accordance with law. It cannot be invoked for directing the
authorities to act contrary to law. In particular, the Customs authorities who
are the creatures of the Customs Act, cannot be directed to ignore or act
contrary to Section 27, whether before or after amendment.
May be
the High Court or a Civil Court is not bound by the said provisions but the
authorities under the Act are. Nor can there be any question of the High Court
clothing the authorities with its power under Article 226 or the power of a
civil court. No such delegation or conferment can ever be conceived. We are,
therefore, of the opinion that the direction contained in clause (3) of the
impugned order is unsustainable in law. When we expressed this view during the
hearing Mr.Hidayatullah requested that in such a case the matter be remitted to
the High Court and the High Court be left free to dispose of the writ petition
according to law.
The
appeal is accordingly allowed, the order under appeal is set aside in its
entirety and the matter is remitted to the High Court for disposal in
accordance with law. We reiterate that we express no opinion upon the
maintainability or the merits of the writ petition. That is for the High Court
to consider.
There
shall be no order as to costs.
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