Conditional interim refund interest fails when the writ is dismissed and the statutory appellate refund already governs the claim.

A conditional interim direction for refund with interest does not create an enforceable right where the writ petition is ultimately dismissed. The Orissa High Court noted that the refund interest claim depended on the petitioner succeeding in the writ proceedings, so the condition never took effect once the writ failed. The refund instead flowed from the statutory appellate order and the sales tax refund framework, not from the interim order. Principles governing final deposit-and-interest orders were held inapplicable on these facts, and the rejection of the interest claim was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to interest on the amounts deposited pursuant to an interim order when the writ petition was ultimately dismissed and the refund was granted in the statutory appellate proceedings.

Analysis: The interim order granting refund with interest was expressly conditioned on the petitioner succeeding in the writ petition. Since the writ petition failed, the condition never came into effect, and the interim direction could not survive the final dismissal. The refund ultimately arose from the appellate authority's order and the statutory refund framework under the sales tax law, not from the interim order. The Court distinguished authorities dealing with final orders for deposit and interest, holding that those principles did not apply where the writ petition itself was dismissed and the deposit was treated as part of the statutory appeal.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to interest under the interim order, and the rejection of the refund-interest claim was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions were rejected because no enforceable right to interest survived after dismissal of the writ proceedings and the statutory refund had already been dealt with by the appellate authority.

Ratio Decidendi: A conditional interim direction for refund with interest does not create an enforceable right when the condition of success in the writ petition is not fulfilled and the writ is ultimately dismissed.

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