JUDGMENT

Deepak Manchanda, J.

The instant writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a writ in the nature of Certiorari for quashing of the impugned order dated 22.12.2021 (Annexure P-1) passed by respondent No.2 vide which the claim of interest of Rs.15,68,26,554/- till 31.10.2021 has been rejected. Also, a writ of mandamus has been sought for issuance of directions to the respondents to sanction the claim of interest of Rs.16,91,23,181/- (as per Annexure P-3) on Rs.108.41 crores calculated as per the applicable rates notified by Section 56 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (for short 'the Act').

2. The brief matrix of the present case is that the petitioner filed CWP No.8108 of 2021 challenging the order dated 19.2.2021, issued by the Additional Commissioner(Appeals), GST, praying for a refund of Central Goods and Services Tax (for short 'CGST') and State Goods and Services Tax (for short 'SGST') amounting to Rs.108.41 crores approximately wrongly paid on 5.4.2019 (for the disputed period, i.e. April 2018 to December 2018) more than the tax due under Section 77 of the Act. At that time, the GST regime had kicked in and the petitioner had one Registration Number for Service Tax which continued for the initial period under the new GST regime and thereafter, the petitioner obtained separate Registration Numbers in all 28 States. However, during the initial stage, the complete break-up of all notified transactions was not available to the petitioner and in the absence thereof for the period from April 2018 to December 2018, the petitioner paid CGST and SGST of Rs.108 Crores approximately treating the transactions to be intra-State sales. The supply was reported under GSTR1 and 3-B as a Business to Customer (B2C) supply as the GST registration of the acquiring banks was not known.

3. Later on it transpired that those transactions (for which an amount of Rs.108 crores approximately had been paid based on intra-State sales) were inter-State transactions. Accordingly, the petitioner on this plea applied for a refund which was rejected by the concerned Authorities vide order dated 19.2.2021. Accordingly, CWP No.8108 of 2021 was filed and was allowed vide order dated 8.10.2021, vide which the respondents were directed to refund the amount of Rs.108 crores approximately which was deposited by the petitioner towards CGST and SGST along with applicable interest within a period of one month. Thereafter, vide order dated 22.12.2021, passed by respondent No.2 (Annexure P-1), the claim of interest amount of Rs.15,68,26,554/- on Rs.108.41 crores (as of 31.10.2021) was rejected vide Annexure P-1 and aggrieved against the said order dated 22.12.2021, the present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that vide judgment dated 8.10.2021, the Court allowed a refund of Rs.108.41 crores paid by the petitioner to the GST Department along with applicable interest, however, the respondent-Department in the colorable exercise of power disallowed the interest by employing ex-facie arbitrary interpretation of Section 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 which was untenable in law. Learned counsel further submits that the petitioner paid Rs.108.41 crores on the dictates of the GST Department and the said amount was kept lying for 2½ years thereafter, vide Court order the same had been refunded and despite the same, the respondent rejected the legitimate claim of inter