Interest rate on duty refund split by legal uncertainty period, with lower rate applied until law was settled.

Interest on the duty amount up to 18 October 1994 was reduced to 12% per annum because the legal position remained uncertain until the controlling decision in Kasinka Trading. For the subsequent period, the 17.5% per annum rate directed by the High Court was upheld. The result was a split-rate treatment based on the date on which the law became settled, with the lower equitable rate applying only for the period of uncertainty.

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Issues: Whether interest on the duty amount payable up to 18 October 1994 was liable to be reduced to 12% per annum because the legal position remained uncertain until the decision in Kasinka Trading, and whether interest for the subsequent period should continue at 17.5% per annum.

Analysis: The Court found that the law remained uncertain until 18 October 1994, when the controlling decision was rendered. For that period, the equitable rate of interest was reduced to 12% per annum. For the period after 18 October 1994, the rate directed by the High Court at 17.5% per annum was upheld.

Conclusion: Interest up to 18 October 1994 was payable at 12% per annum, and interest for the further period was payable at 17.5% per annum. The appeals were allowed to that extent.

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