The main legal point established in the judgment is that the petitioner is entitled to the refund as per the statutory provisions of the Income Tax Act, and delays and technical glitches in the system should not hinder the issuance of the refund.

ORDER :

MS. JUSTICE SONIA GOKANI, J.

1. By way of present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner seeks directions against the respondents to issue the refund of Income Tax due to the petitioner- Company for having succeeded in the appeal for AY 1998-99 but, the same has not been refunded by the respondents despite the legal obligations to refund.

2. The petitioner is a limited company and engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling detergents. The return of income for AY 1998-99 was filed on 30.11.1998 on normal income and on MAT income. The Assessment Order u/s. 143(3) of the I.T.Act on scrutiny was passed on 1.11.2000 determining the income of the petitioner. The matter was carried in appeal and the CIT (Appeal) allowed the part relief on 17.1.2002.

3. It was further carried to the Tribunal by the appellant as well as revenue and the same has been disposed of on 31.7.2013. The revenue-reopened the assessment and passed reassessment order u/s. 147 of the Income Tax Act on 30.03.2004. CIT(A) passed order on 25.11.2004. The Tribunal passed an order on 18.8.2006.

4. The petitioner appealed against the order of ITAT vide Tax Appeal No. 328 of 2007 which was decided on 11.10.2017 allowing the appeal of the assessee.

5. The order of the High Court in Tax Appeal No.328 of 2007 determining the revised total income under normal provisions and book profits u/s. 115JA. The order was served on 17.7.2019 which resulted into the refunds of taxes due to the petitioner with effect from 4.4.2018.

6. The grievance on the part of petitioner is that though the order giving effect determining the refund was passed on 4.4.2018, no refund was issued to the petitioner.

7. Request is made on the part of the petitioner to the respondent No.1 on 24.1.2020 after merely two years where, the petitioner has also pointed out certain errors in computation of interest due on the refund. However, no heed was paid to the said communication.

8. The petitioner once again reminded the respondent No.1 for refund on 9.10.2020 and 19.1.2022, but no reply was given nor the refund was given to the petitioner.

9. The petitioner filed an application before the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRMS) for issuance of refund on 28.8.2020, 10.09.2020, 10.11.2020, 20.1.2021 and 05.05.2021 with no avail.

10. The petitioner thereafter wrote to the respondent No.2 on 19.1.2022. However, when the respondent No.2 also did not pay any attention to such request, he has approached this Court by way of present petition urging this Court that withholding of the refund due to the petitioner in consequence to the success in appeal is bad in law. He is also relied on the decision of this Court in case of Jugal Kishore Mahendra Biyani [2020] 114 taxmann.com 530(Gujarat). It is also say of the petitioner that this harassment is faced by the taxpayers, including the delay in issuing refunds, the elaborate initiatives are undertaken by the legislature and the executive to recognize and redressed the same. It is pointed out that Section 119A which is Taxpayer’s Charter, the Board is expected to adopt and declare a Taxpayer’s charter and issue such orders, instructions and directions or guidelines to other income-tax authorities had been necessary for the administration of such Charter. The ground realities since go counter to the objectives of these measurements, these measures is according to the petitioner lose its efficacy. The petitioner should not be made to suffer unnecessarily by delay in issuance of refund. The prayers sought for by the petitioner are as follows:-

(a) Direct the Respondents to issue forthwith the refunds due to the petitioner in relation to order giving effect dated 4.4.2018 at Annexure “B” along with the interest u/s. 244 (A) (1), 244A(1A) immediately without any further delay.

(b) Direct the respondents to issue forthwith the refunds due to the petitioner in relation to order giving effect dated 4.4.2018 at Ann