Court grants refund under Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 for excess payment recovery. Petitioner entitled to refund under legal precedents.

The court allowed the petition seeking a refund under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 for an excess payment recovered. The petitioner was entitled to a refund of the excess amount paid under protest as it was not due under the Scheme based on legal precedents. The court distinguished the case from previous rulings and directed the respondents to refund the excess amount along with interest within two months without costs.

---

---

Issues:
Petition seeking refund under Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 due to excess payment recovered. Interpretation of Section 93 of the Act regarding refundability of excess amount paid. Application of legal principles from previous judgments on refund of excess tax paid under protest.

Analysis:
The petitioner filed a petition seeking a refund of Rs. 89,228 along with interest due, which was an excess payment recovered under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998. The Commissioner of Income-tax had erroneously included this amount in the total demand, but upon the petitioner's objection, a revised intimation was issued reducing the payable amount to Rs. 6,13,864. The petitioner had paid the entire amount under protest within the stipulated time frame to avail the Scheme's benefits. The court noted that Section 93 of the Act states that any amount paid under a declaration made under Section 88 shall not be refundable. However, it was observed that the excess amount was not due under the Scheme as per the revised intimation. Refundability of excess tax paid under protest was supported by legal precedents like Biru Mai Gauri Shankar Jain and Co. v. CIT and Vasantlal Tulsidas Agrawal v. CIT, emphasizing that if a declaration does not fall within the Scheme's purview, the tax paid in pursuance thereof is refundable. The court held that the petitioner was entitled to the refund of the excess amount paid under protest.

The court distinguished the case from Union of India v. Onkar S. Kanwar, where the refund was sought for tax paid under valid declarations. In the present case, the excess amount was not charged under any declaration made by the petitioner. Therefore, the court allowed the writ petition, directing the respondents to refund the amount of Rs. 89,228 along with any interest due within two months from the date of the order, without imposing any costs.

---