JUDGMENT :

The petitioner carries on the business under the name and style of M/S ITAS G Pharma and having its office in the Sree Nagar area of Guwahati. It is submitted that the petitioner was a registered dealer under the Assam VAT Act, 2003 bearing registration number 18530036665. According to the petitioner for the assessment year 2011-12, it had submitted its return of turnover under the Assam VAT Act, 2003 before the assessing officer and claiming a sum of Rs. 17,29,010/- (Rupees Seventeen Lakh Twenty Nine Thousand Ten Rupees Only) to be the amount refundable to the petitioner. The assessing officer namely, the respondent No 4, completed the assessment and vide the assessment order dated 06.07.2016, a sum of Rs. 17,38,945/- (Rupees Seventeen Lakh Thirty Eight Thousand Nine Hundred Forty Five Only) was determined as the amount refundable to the petitioner. The said amount became refundable after adjustment of input tax credit and TDS against the output tax liability of the petitioner. It is the submission on behalf of the learned Senior counsel for the petitioner that upon receipt of the order of assessment, necessary steps were taken for filing of the refund application for refund of the excess tax as determined in terms of the order of assessment. A refund application was duly prepared and the same was submitted in the office of respondent No. 4. However, inspite of the application for refund having been submitted, no refund was received by the petitioner. Upon enquiries made from the office of the respondents it was informed that no refund application was available in their records. The petitioner being surprised by such a response and having no other alternative, filed another refund application before the respondent authority amounting to Rs. 17,29,010/- (Rupees Seventeen Lakh Twenty Nine Thousand Ten Rupees Only). The said second refund application was submitted on 18.07.2019 which was duly received by the Office of the assessing officer on the same date. It was submitted by the petitioner before the authorities that any delay that may have occurred in submitting the refund application was due to circumstances beyond the control of the petitioner. It was prayed by the petitioner before the respondents that delay, if any, should be condoned and refund payable to the petitioner for the assessment year 2011-12 should be refunded to the petitioner.

2. That however, vide the order dated 29.08.2019, the Superintendent of Taxes, Guwahati Unit-1 rejected the application of refund for the petitioner on the ground that as per Section 50 of the Assam VAT Act, 2003 read with Rule 29 of the Assam VAT Rules of 2005, the refund application was required to have been made within the period prescribed namely 180 days from the date of assessment or re-assessment as the case may be. Since the petitioner failed to do so the same was time barred. It is submitted that the Superintendent of Taxes did not consider the letter/application filed by the petitioner along with refund application whereby reasons for delay were explained with a prayer for condonation of such a delay, if any.

3. Being aggrieved by the order dated 29.08.2019 passed by the Superintendent of Taxes, Unit-1, Guwahati, the petitioner filed a revision application before the Additional Commissioner of Taxes, namely respondent No. 3. The same also came to be dismissed vide order dated 25.02.2021 on the ground that there was no substantive evidence for the delay in filing the refund application and the assessing officer was correct in rejecting the refund application as per provisions of Assam VAT Act, 2003 read with the Rules of 2005.

4. Being aggrieved by the rejection of the refund application dated 29.08.2019 as well as the rejection of the revision petition by the Addl. Commissioner of Taxes vide order dated 25.02.2021, the present writ petition has been filed praying for issuance of a writ to the respondents to direct release of the refundable amount receivable by the petit