Refund of CENVAT Credit Cannot Be Denied Merely for Non-Registration of Unit: CESTAT

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has ruled that a refund of unutilized CENVAT credit cannot be denied to a business unit solely because the unit was not registered with the department. The tribunal held that the registration of a unit is a procedural requirement, and its absence should not lead to the denial of a substantive benefit like a refund, especially when the eligibility criteria are otherwise met. The case involved a unit that had provided export services and had accumulated CENVAT credit on input services. The CESTAT emphasized that as long as the assessee can prove that the input services were used for providing the export services, the refund is admissible. This decision reinforces the legal principle that procedural lapses should not override substantive rights, providing relief to businesses that may have committed bona fide procedural errors.