CESTAT says Departmental Inaction Cannot Sustain a Stale Excise Demand

Panasonic Life Solutions had taken ₹54 lakh as suo-moto credit after its refund application remained undecided by the Department for almost a year. CESTAT held that the recovery proceedings were time-barred and, on merits, found that the assessee could not be faulted when the very procedure prescribed by the notification had not been followed by the Department.