Statutory sales tax refund and mandatory interest apply without prior administrative approval under the Act.

Section 33-B of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 requires the assessing authority to refund tax that becomes due under an appellate or other order without insisting on a separate claim, and any extraneous requirement of prior administrative approval cannot defeat that statutory entitlement. Where the refund is not granted within six months from the relevant order, Section 33-F(1) makes simple interest at 12% per annum payable from the day after expiry of that period until payment. The stated position is that a refund due pursuant to the appellate order and subsequent certification must be released in time, and delay attracts mandatory interest.

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Issues: Entitlement to refund of excess sales tax under the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 and consequential interest for delay, notwithstanding the departmental insistence on prior approval from a superior authority.

Analysis: Section 33-B of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 requires the assessing authority to refund amounts that become due as a result of an order passed in appeal or other proceedings, without requiring a separate claim. Section 33-F(1) of the same Act provides that where such refund is not granted within six months from the date of the relevant order, simple interest at 12% per annum becomes payable from the day after expiry of that period until refund is made. The refund had become due pursuant to the appellate order and the subsequent certification by the assessing authority, yet it was not paid within the statutory period. The insistence on obtaining approval from the Deputy Commissioner had no support in the Act or the Rules and could not defeat the assessee's statutory right to refund and interest.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to refund of the excess tax with interest at 12% per annum for the delay, and the objection based on want of departmental approval was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: When a refund becomes due under Section 33-B of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, the assessing authority must refund it without insisting on extraneous administrative approval, and delay beyond the statutory period attracts mandatory interest under Section 33-F(1).

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