Landmark Ruling: Petitioner Wins Challenge Against Refund Rejection, Time Limitation Period Recalculated Under New Notification

HC allowed petitioner's writ challenging refund application rejection. Court found the refund application was improperly deemed time-barred, considering the subsequent Notification dated 05.07.2022 which excluded the period from March 2020 to February 2022 from limitation calculations. The order rejecting the refund was set aside and remanded for fresh consideration.

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Issues:
Challenge to rejection of refund application as time-barred under Section 54 of the CGST Act and Circular No.157/13/2021-GST dated 20.07.2021.

Analysis:
The petitioner filed a writ petition seeking relief related to the refund of tax paid on coal supplies under Section 54 of the CGST Act and A.P. G.S.T. Act. The petitioner's refund application for the tax periods July 2017 to March 2018 and April 2018 to March 2019 was rejected as time-barred by respondent No.1 on 05.10.2021. The rejection was based on the application being beyond the limitation period specified in Section 54(14) of the CGST Act and Circular No.157/13/2021-GST dated 20.07.2021. The petitioner challenged this rejection through the writ petition.

The petitioner argued that the subsequent Notification dated 05.07.2022 by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs rendered the rejection of the refund application unlawful. The Government Pleader for Commercial Tax defended the rejection, citing the Circular dated 20.07.2021 and asserting the legality of the decision made by respondent No.1. However, the Court examined the facts and legal provisions closely.

Upon review, the Court found that the application for refund was filed on 15.09.2021 for the relevant tax periods. The petitioner contended that the 'relevant date' mentioned in the Explanation to Section 54 of the CGST Act pertains only to goods exported out of India, not to supplies to SEZ units treated as zero-rated sales under the IGST Act. The Court noted a Notification dated 05.07.2022, which excluded the period from 1st March 2020 to 28th February 2022 from the computation of the limitation period for filing refund applications under Section 54 or Section 55 of the Act.

Consequently, the Court allowed the writ petition, setting aside the order of 05.10.2021 rejecting the refund application as time-barred. The matter was remanded back to respondent No.1 for fresh consideration in accordance with the law. No costs were awarded, and any pending miscellaneous petitions in the writ petition were closed.

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