Declared goods reimbursement under sales tax law cannot be denied where inter-State sale and Central Sales Tax are both paid.

Declared goods purchased within a State and taxed under State sales tax, then converted into coke and sold in inter-State trade with Central Sales Tax paid, attract reimbursement of the State tax under Section 15(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. On the stated facts, the tax paid on coal satisfied that condition, so reimbursement was due. A refund claim filed in the prescribed form could not be denied merely because an excess demand notice was not annexed, where the statutory entitlement to reimbursement otherwise existed. The document therefore affirms statutory reimbursement of the State tax with interest and rejects a purely procedural objection.

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Issues: (i) whether the petitioner was entitled to reimbursement of the State sales tax paid on purchase of coal, a declared good, after the end product was sold in inter-State trade and Central Sales Tax was paid; (ii) whether the refund claim could be rejected for non-annexure of an excess demand notice under the Bihar Sales Tax Rules, 1983.

Issue (i): whether the petitioner was entitled to reimbursement of the State sales tax paid on purchase of coal, a declared good, after the end product was sold in inter-State trade and Central Sales Tax was paid.

Analysis: The coal was purchased within the State and State sales tax was paid on that purchase. The coal was thereafter converted into coke and sold outside the State, attracting Central Sales Tax. Section 15(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 requires reimbursement of the tax levied under the State law when declared goods are sold in the course of inter-State trade and Central Sales Tax is also paid. On the admitted facts, the amount paid as State sales tax on coal answered that statutory condition.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to reimbursement of the State sales tax of Rs. 17,89,412 paid on coal.

Issue (ii): whether the refund claim could be rejected for non-annexure of an excess demand notice under the Bihar Sales Tax Rules, 1983.

Analysis: The refund application was filed in the prescribed form, and the entitlement to reimbursement flowed from the statutory scheme under Section 15(b) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. In the circumstances recorded, the absence of an excess demand notice was not treated as a valid ground to deny the statutory reimbursement.

Conclusion: The refund claim could not be rejected on the ground that an excess demand notice was not annexed.

Final Conclusion: The respondents were directed to reimburse the State sales tax paid on the purchase of coal with statutory interest, and the writ petition was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where declared goods suffer State tax on intra-State purchase and are later sold inter-State with Central Sales Tax paid, Section 15(b) mandates reimbursement of the State tax, and a procedural objection that does not defeat the statutory entitlement cannot deny refund.

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