2026-VIL-1803-CESTAT-BLR-ST
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SERVICE TAX CESTAT Cases

Service Tax - Refund of service tax paid on exempt service and applicability of bar of unjust enrichment under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with Section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994 - Appellant provided erection, commissioning and installation service to Government undertakings, paid service tax during pendency of proceedings as a matter of abundant caution and filed a refund claim within time claiming exemption under a Notification - Original authority rejected the claim on the ground that the Appellant had charged and collected service tax from the service recipients, and the Commissioner (Appeals) held the Appellant eligible for the benefit of the Notification but upheld rejection on unjust enrichment as no documents were produced to contradict the finding of collection - Appellant contended that unjust enrichment was not alleged in the SCN, that the contract price was inclusive of all applicable taxes, and that no service tax was charged in the invoices - Respondent contended that every refund claim must undergo scrutiny under Section 11B - Whether the refund claim was rightly rejected on the ground of unjust enrichment - HELD - The plea that unjust enrichment was not part of the SCN is misplaced, since it is settled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court that all refund claims have to be processed to examine the element of unjust enrichment. Once the Appellant was held not liable to pay service tax under the exemption Notification, no presumption can be drawn that it collected service tax while receiving the gross amount, and the records produced show no evidence of such collection. However, these documents were not placed before the original authority and it cannot be identified that they relate to the same transactions for which refund is claimed, so the question needs further verification - The Appellant is directed to produce all necessary documents along with a Chartered Accountant certificate for the relevant period, the impugned order is set aside and the appeal is allowed by way of remand to the original authority to decide the issue of unjust enrichment only
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