Statutory refund scheme under sales tax law limits relief to interest for delayed adjustment, not immediate writ refund.

Section 44 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, read with rules 43(2) and 44, provides the exclusive scheme for refund or adjustment of excess tax after final assessment or on receipt of an appellate or revisional order. If the assessing authority does not act within ninety days, the taxpayer's statutory remedy is interest at six per cent per annum on the refundable amount until payment or adjustment. Tax collected under provisional assessment is not treated as retention without authority of law merely because final assessment is delayed. A writ for immediate refund was therefore not available, and the claim was limited to the statutory consequences under section 44.

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Issues: Whether the dealer was entitled to a writ directing refund of tax paid during pendency of appeal on the basis that the assessment had been set aside and the amount retained by the department beyond ninety days was unauthorised.

Analysis: Section 44 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and rules 43(2) and 44 of the Rules provide a complete scheme for refund or adjustment of excess tax after final assessment or on receipt of an appellate or revisional order. Where the assessing authority fails to act within the prescribed ninety days, the statute creates a right only to claim interest at six per cent per annum on the refundable amount until payment or adjustment. The amount collected under a provisional assessment is not retention without authority of law merely because final assessment has not yet been completed. The reliance placed on the principle governing tax collected without authority of law did not assist the petitioner, since the claim arose within the statutory refund framework and not outside it.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to immediate refund by writ merely on the ground of delay in completing the assessment. The claim was confined to the statutory consequences under section 44, and the request for refund was rejected.

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