Tax Penalty Cannot Be Double-Charged for Single Arecanut Transport; Refund Process Mandated Within Four Weeks

HC ruled that tax penalty cannot be collected twice for the same transportation of arecanuts. The court directed the petitioner to manually apply for a refund with the tax authority, mandating processing within four weeks of submission due to online portal limitations. The goods were originally intercepted in Gujarat for lacking a valid E-Way Bill, resulting in dual tax payments by transporter and supplier.

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Issues involved:
The petitioner seeks a refund of Goods and Services Tax paid for transporting arecanuts without a valid E-Way Bill, claiming that the amount was paid twice over.

Summary:
The petitioner transported goods purchased by M/s Sharma Enterprise from Karnataka to Delhi without a valid E-Way Bill. The truck was intercepted in Gujarat, where the necessary papers were requested but the E-Way Bill was missing. Subsequently, a tax penalty and fine of Rs. 40,85,375 was imposed and paid by both the petitioner and the supplier, Rohit Sharma. The goods were released after payment and verification. The petitioner now seeks a refund as the tax amount was paid twice over. The petitioner faced challenges in filing an online refund application due to the unavailability of the option on the portal. The court acknowledged that the tax penalty and fine cannot be collected twice and directed the petitioner to apply for a refund manually to the concerned authority. Respondent's counsel suggested manual application due to the portal's limitations. The court disposed of the petition by allowing manual refund application and directed prompt processing within four weeks of application submission.

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