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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Manmohan, Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, JJ.
KRBL Limited - Appellant
Versus
Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax - Respondent
W.P.(C) 14767 of 2022
Decided On : 19-10-2022
Important Points
Subject
Taxation - Income Tax Refund
Headnote
(B) Administrative Procedure - Time frame for issuance of appeal effect orders is mandated by law, and failure to comply can lead to judicial intervention. (Para 5)
Facts of the case:
The petitioner sought a total refund of Rs.34,00,00,000/- after the ITAT deleted all tax additions, supported by several representations to the Respondents which went unanswered.
Findings of Court:
The court found sufficient grounds for directing the Respondents to issue the refunds and appeal effect orders as per applicable law within a stipulated six-week timeframe.
Issues: The primary issue was regarding the legal obligation of the Revenue to issue a refund as mandated by law and the timelines for such issuance.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized that the Revenue had ample time to comply with the legal requirements and the necessity for adherence to statutory timelines in issuing appeal effect orders.
Result: Writ petition disposed of with directions to issue refunds within six weeks.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. entitlement to tax refund and interest. (Para 1 , 2 , 3) |
| 2. notice of appeal against itat order. (Para 4) |
| 3. timely appeal effect order requirement. (Para 5) |
| 4. court's directive on refund issuance. (Para 6 , 7) |
JUDGMENT
Manmohan, J.:
C.M.No.45401/2022
Exemption allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
Accordingly, the application stands disposed of.
W.P.(C) No.14767/2022
1. Present writ petition has been filed seeking a direction to the Respondents to issue refund of Rs.24,03,89,270/-along with up-to-date interest to the Petitioner pursuant to appeal effect order dated 05th April, 2021 arising out of order of CIT(A) as well as pass appeal effect order pursuant to order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (`ITAT') dated 09th May, 2022 and issue additional refund of Rs.9,96,10,730/-along with up-todate interest.
2. Learned counsel for the Petitioner states that the ITAT deleted all the additions and ruled in favour of the Petitioner and the Petitioner is now entitled to a refund of the entire tax paid under protest aggregating to Rs.34,00,00,000/-(along with applicable interest under Section 244A/244A(1A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (`the Act').
3. He states that the Petitioner made several representations to the Respondents but to no avail. He submits that non-issuance of refund is in violation of Article 265 of the Constitution of India and also against Section 237 of the Act.
4. Issue notice. Mr.A.Renganath, Advocate accepts notice on behalf of the Respondents-Revenue. He states that the Revenue is in the process of filing an appeal against the order of the ITAT.
5. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, this Court is of the view that the Respondents-Revenue have had sufficient time to file an appeal against the order of the ITAT. In any event, in accordance with the mandate of law, the appeal effect order has to be passed within three months of passing of the appeal order.
6. Keeping in view the limited relief sought in the present writ petition, the same is disposed of along with pending application with a direction to the Respondents-revenue to consider:
(i) Issue of refund of Rs.24,03,89,270/-along with up-to-date interest to the Petitioner pursuant to appeal effect order dated 05th April, 2021 arising out of order of CIT(A); and
(ii) Appeal effect order pursuant to order of the ITAT dated 09th May, 2022 and issue additional refund of Rs. 9,96,10,730/-along with up- to-date interest, in accordance with law.
7. The necessary appeal effect orders and payments of refunds shall be made within the said period of six weeks. The rights and contentions of all the parties are left open.
