Court orders VAT refund with interest to be released within 72 hours, imposes costs, and seeks action on recovery.

The court ruled in favor of the petitioner in a VAT refund case, directing the revenue to release the interest amount along with the refund within 72 hours. The court emphasized that interest on refunds is a legal entitlement and ordered the concerned officer to pay costs of &8377;20,000 for refusing to deposit the interest. Additionally, the Government of NCT of Delhi was instructed to submit an action taken report on recovering amounts from officers in similar cases. Compliance reporting was scheduled for a specified date, with the order to be served dasti.

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Issues: Refund of excess VAT amount with interest

Analysis:
The judgment involves a writ petition seeking a refund of excess VAT amount along with interest. The revenue had released the claimed refund but withheld the interest, prompting the petitioner to approach the court. The court noted that interest on refunds is a matter of right and held that the revenue's opinion of inadmissibility of interest without specific direction is unwarranted and illegal. The court cited Section 42 of the Delhi VAT Act read with Rule 34(6) of the Rules and a previous Division Bench judgment to support its view. Consequently, the revenue was directed to release the interest amount along with the refund within 72 hours. The petitioner was also awarded costs of &8377; 20,000 to be borne by the concerned officer who refused to deposit the interest.

The judgment further required the Government of NCT of Delhi to file an action taken report regarding the recovery of amounts from individual officers in similar cases. The court directed the preparation of an appropriate action taken report to be submitted and listed the case for compliance reporting on a specified date. The order was to be served dasti, indicating that a copy of the order would be provided directly to the parties without formal written process.

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