Refund

CESTAT, Chennai Bench

Pasla Air Travels & Cargo (P) Ltd.

v.

Commissioner of Customs & Central Excise

P. KARTHIKEYAN, TECHNICAL MEMBER

S/PD/5/07 IN S/10/07/MAS

FINAL ORDER NO. 968 OF 2007

STAY ORDER NO. 819 OF 2007

August 3, 2007

Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 - Claim for refund of duty - Period 2003 to 2004 - Assessee paid certain amount towards service tax as air travel agent for air tickets issued - Subsequently, those tickets were cancelled, assessee claimed refund submitting documentary evidence for return of service tax alongwith air fare to persons who had cancelled tickets - Revenue’s case was that assessee had not established that tax collected had been returned to persons who had booked air tickets and, accordingly, credited refund amount to consumer welfare fund - Whether assessee was in possession of documentary evidence to substantiate its claim that it had returned airfare and service tax to clients and passengers had acknowledged receiving refund of fare and service tax paid when they had cancelled their tickets, in view of this, matter was to be remanded to original authority to examine case afresh and to allow refund to extent assessee was able to establish that it had refunded service tax originally collected from passengers - Held, yes [Para 3]