Mr. Narayan has, over three consignments of 200, 400 and 400 units, imported a total of 1000 units of an article "ZEP", which has been valued at…

Mr. Narayan's invoices show that he collected duty of 250per unit on 1,000 items. However, he paid duty on 200 items more. This payment, in the normal course, was made before the order permitting the clearance of the goods. It would be evident from the bill of entry that the amount paid was more than the amount of duty assessed. Thus Mr. Narayan's case falls within the exception to unjust enrichment listed at clause (g) of the first proviso to section 27 (2) of the CGST Act, 2017. He will be able to refute the charge of unjust enrichment. Furthermore, clause (a) of the same sub-section provides that the doctrine of unjust enrichment will not apply to the refund of duty and interest, if any, paid on such duty if such amount is relatable to the duty and interest paid by the importer/exporter, if he had not passed on the incidence of such duty and interest to any other person. Mr. Narayan's invoices and other documentary evidences will show how much duty he collected from his customers, hence he may be covered by this clause also to escape the bar of unjust enrichment.