Under Sections 54 and 56 of the CGST Act, the Department is legally obligated to process IGST refunds in a time-bound manner and pay interest on delayed refunds, regardless of administrative processes, especially when the delay follows the finality of appellate orders.

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D sii gg nit ea dl by y 17-WP 1330-25.DOC

PRAJAKTA

P SR AGAJ AA RKTAS VA AG RTA AR K

VARTAK Date:

2026.04.22

13:25:46

+0530

Prajakta Vartak

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION NO. 1330 OF 2025

Shri. Charan Singh Surjit Singh Gujral ...Petitioner

Vs.

Union of India & Ors. ...Respondents

_________

Mr. Brijesh Pathak with Ms. Anjali Joshi and Mr. Dulraj Jain for the Petitioner.

Mr. S. D. Deshpande for Respondents.

__________

CORAM: G. S. KULKARNI &

AARTI SATHE, JJ.

DATE: 15 APRIL 2026.

Judgment (Per G. S. Kulkarni, J.):-

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent of the parties, heard

finally.

2. This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is filed

praying for the following substantive reliefs:-

“(a) to issue Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writs,

orders or directions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India

ordering and directing the Respondent Nos.2 and 3 and their

subordinates, servants and agents to forthwith release and refund

the IGST amount in relation to zero rated supply/export of the

goods covered by Shipping Bills, along with applicable interest till

the date of refund, the details whereof is mentioned in Exhibit-A;

(b) to issue Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writs,

orders or directions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India

ordering and directing the Respondent Nos.2 and 3 and their

subordinates, servants and agents to forthwith pay interest in terms

of Section 54 of CGST Act read with Section 16 of the IGST Act,

from the date of filing the Shipping Bills to the date of actual

refund, in relation to zero rated supply/export of the goods

covered by Shipping Bills, the details whereof is mentioned in

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Exhibit-A.”

3. The facts lie in a narrow compass:- It is the petitioner’s case that he is

carrying business of trading and export of parts and accessories of the motor

vehicles and mobile accessories etc. in the name of his proprietary concern Guru

Nanak Motor House. During the period between 21 December 2018 to 14

January 2019 the petitioner exported SD Super-Fast Data Sync and Cable and

related items under the cover of 30 separate shipping bills. The petitioner

contends that he had paid and discharged the amount of IGST at the time of

procurement of such goods. All the goods were examined and finally assessed and

permitted to be exported.

4. It is the case of the petitioner that he was entitled to receive refund of the

IGST amount in terms of Section 54 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act,

2017 (for short, “CGST Act”). Pursuant to the final assessment of the shipping

bills, the same was considered as an application for refund. However, on 22

January 2019, the goods were seized by the Special Intelligence and Investigation

Branch (SIIB) under Section 110 of the Customs Act, on the allegation that value

was mis-declared, which ultimately led to an adjudication order being passed

whereby the valuation as prayed by the petitioner was rejected in terms of the

following operative order passed in the Order-in-Original by which the goods

were inter alia confiscated. The extract of the said order as quoted in the orders

passed by the appellate authority read thus:

“M/s Gurunanak Motor House, Plot No.41, Sector-5 Koperkhairne,

Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra-400701 (hereinafter referred to as

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15 April 2026

17-WP 1330-25.DOC

Appell