Refund to authorised dealer is permissible where tax payer directs refund on its behalf under statutory refund restriction.

Section 29-A(3) of the U. P. Trade Tax Act was construed as barring refund only to a person other than the one from whom tax was actually realised. Where that person expressly authorised the dealer to receive the refund on its behalf, and acknowledged that the tax had been collected from the dealer, the dealer was treated as an authorised agent rather than a distinct claimant. This reading avoids double recovery and prevents unjust enrichment. On those facts, the dealer was not regarded as an "other person" within the statutory restriction, and refund to the dealer on behalf of the person from whom tax was realised was permissible.

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Issues: Whether refund of tax wrongly realised could be granted to the dealer when the person from whom the tax was realised had asked that the refund be made to the dealer on its behalf, and whether such dealer would fall within the expression "other person" under Section 29-A(3) of the U. P. Trade Tax Act.

Analysis: Section 29-A(3) bars refund to a person other than the one from whom the tax was actually realised. The decisive factor was the letter issued by the person from whom tax had been collected, expressly stating that the amount had already been realised from the dealer and requesting that the refund be made to the dealer on its behalf. On those facts, the dealer was treated as an authorised agent of that person and not as a stranger claiming refund in its own right. A construction that permits refund to the authorised agent avoids double recovery and prevents unjust enrichment.

Conclusion: The dealer was not an "other person" within the meaning of Section 29-A(3); refund to the dealer on behalf of the person from whom tax was realised was permissible. The issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the person entitled to refund authorises the dealer to receive it on its behalf, the dealer is treated as an authorised agent and not as an "other person" for the purpose of a statutory refund restriction.

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