JUDGMENT

Vibhu Bakhru, J.

1. The National Internet Exchange of India (hereafter `the petitioner') has filed the present writ petition impugning an order dated 13.04.2021 (hereafter `the impugned order'), passed by respondent no.3 (Assistant Commissioner, Department of Trade and Taxes) whereby the petitioner's claim for refund of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (hereafter `IGST') in respect of zero rated supplies, was rejected on the ground that the petitioner's application was filed beyond the period stipulated under Section 54(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereafter `the CGST Act'). The petitioner assails rejection of its claim on the ground that its first application seeking refund was filed within the prescribed period. Its subsequent applications were filed online to clarify the deficiencies and queries raised by the concerned officer; therefore, it cannot be considered as a fresh application for the purposes of determining whether the claim was filed within the period of limitation.

2. In terms of Paragraph 10 of Circular No. 125/44/2019-GST dated 18.11.2019 (hereafter `the impugned Circular') once a deficiency memo is issued, the application for refu