Per P.G. Chacko : This appeal of the assessee is against an order of the Commissioner of Central Excise rejecting as time-barred their claim for rebate of Central Excise duty in respect of goods exported out of India during December 1999 - August 2001. The rebate claim was filed on 29.1.2003 and the same was in respect of the amounts of duty mentioned below relating to five consignments of goods exported on the respective dates mentioned below:-

The claim for rebate of the amounts of duty mentioned at Sl. Nos. 1 to 4 above was under Rule 12 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 and the rebate claim at Sl. No. 5 was under Rule 18 of the Central Excise (No. 2) Rules, 2001. Section 11B of the Central Excise Act treated rebate claims on par with refund claims and prescribed a period of limitation for both. This period of limitation, prior to the amendment of Section 11B effective from 12.5.2000, was six months. The amendment enhanced the period of limitation from six months to twelve months. This period of limitation has continued to be in force even after Rule 12 was replaced by Rule 18. Rules 12 and 18 authorised the Central Government to grant, by Notification in the Official Gazette, rebate of duty paid on excisable goods, if such goods were exported out of India subject to such safeguards, conditions and limitations (as regards the class or description of goods, destination, mode of transport and other allied matters) as might be specified in the Notification. The relevant Notifications issued by the Central Government under Rule 12 and Rule 18 providing for grant of rebate of excise duty were Notification No. 41/94-CE (NT) dated 12.9.94 and Notification No. 40/2001-CE (NT) dated 26.6.2001. These Notifications laid down the conditions subject to which any claim for rebate of duty could be made. Thus, for a rebate claim in terms of clause (a) sub-rule (1) of Rule 12, nine conditions were laid down by Notification No. 41/94. Condition No. (iv), among these conditions is relevant for the present purpose and the same reads as under:-

"iv. The claim or, as the case may be, supplementary claim, for rebate of duty is lodged with the Maritime Collector of Central Excise or the Collector of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the factory of manufacture or warehouse, as mentioned in the relevant export documents; together with the proof of due exportation within the time limit specified in Section 11B of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944)."

Section 11B of the Central Excise Act expressly provides that any amount of duty of excise determined by the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise for refund to a claimant shall be paid to him, instead of being credited to the Consumer Welfare Fund, if such amount is relatable to rebate of duty of excise on excisable goods which the latter has exported out of India. The period of limitation for such refund is reckoned from the "relevant date" which, insofar as a claim for rebate of duty on goods exported out of India is concerned, is the date of export, i.e., the date of shipment.

2. In the instant case, the refund claim relating to rebate of duty on the goods covered by the five shipments was filed on 29.1.2003, far beyond the dates of export of the goods. It is on this ground that the Commissioner of Central Excise rejected the assessee's claim.

3. The main ground raised in this appeal is that, in the absence of any time limit prescribed under Rule 18, the limitation prescribed under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act is irrelevant. The appellants have, in this connection, relied on the ratio of the Supreme Court's judgment in CCE Vs. Raghuvar (India) Ltd. reported in 2000 (118) ELT 311 (SC), wherein it was held that, where the relevant Rule did not provide any time limit, the provisions of Section 11A would n