Refund claim under the Income-tax Act failed after the supporting appellate order was displaced by a later judgment.

A refund claim under the Income-tax Act based on an earlier ITAT order could not survive once a later High Court judgment in the department's reference upheld the modified assessment and answered the questions of law in favour of the Revenue. Because the refund foundation lost legal force, no enforceable right to refund or to interest under sections 240 and 244 remained. The writ petition therefore failed on the ground that the supporting appellate order no longer sustained the claim.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to refund of tax amount with interest under sections 240 and 244 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 after the appellate order on which the claim was based had been displaced by a later judgment upholding the assessment.

Analysis: The refund claim rested entirely on the earlier order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal deleting additions and granting relief. That foundation was removed when the subsequent judgment in the department's reference answered the questions of law in favour of the Revenue and upheld the modified assessment. Once the order supporting the refund ceased to have legal force, no enforceable right to refund or interest could survive.

Conclusion: The petitioner had no entitlement to refund or interest on the basis of the Tribunal's order, and the writ petition failed.

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