Refund petition may be treated as refund application, and the authority must also examine the related claim for interest.

Where refund was otherwise undisputed and the competent customs authority was before the Court, the writ petition could be treated as the refund application to secure effective relief. The Court also required the same authority to examine the petitioner's claim for interest on the refunded amount, with reference to the coordinate bench decision cited in the order. Appropriate refund directions were therefore issued to the concerned authority, which was asked to decide both the refund and the ancillary interest claim within the stipulated time.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition could be treated as an application for refund before the authority that received the deposit, and whether the petitioner's claim for interest on the refunded amount required consideration.

Analysis: The amount in dispute had been deposited with one customs authority, while the refund request was moved before another authority after appropriation. Since the refund was otherwise undisputed and the concerned authority was before the Court, the petition could be treated as the refund application and decided by that authority. The request for interest was also required to be examined by the same authority, with due regard to the relevant coordinate bench decision referred to in the order.

Conclusion: The petition was treated as the refund application and the concerned authority was directed to pass appropriate refund orders and consider the claim for interest within the stipulated time.

Ratio Decidendi: Where refund is otherwise due and the competent authority is before the Court, the petition may be treated as the refund application to secure effective relief, and the authority must also consider the ancillary claim for interest.

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