2023 (8) TMI 1672 - HC - GST

Petition allowed; revenue authority must reconsider accumulated ITC refund claims after exclusion of 01.03.2020-28.02.2022 from limitation

The HC allowed the petition and remanded the matter to the revenue authority to reconsider the applicant's refund applications for accumulated ITC in ... Refund of accumulated input tax credit (ITC) - rejection of applications solely on the ground that the petitioner had not responded to the SCN - HELD THAT:- It is relevant to note that after the impugned order was passed, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued a Notification dated 05.07.2022 in line with the orders passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3 of 2020 In Re : Cognizance for Extension of Limitation [2022 (1) TMI 385 - SC ORDER]. In terms of the said circular, the Board directed that the period from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 is excluded for purposes of computing the period of limitation, inter-alia, for applications filed under Section 54 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. By virtue of the said circular, the petitioner’s applications for refund would be within the period of limitation. Considering the peculiar circumstances of this case, where the benefit of exclusion of the period from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 has been made available subsequent to the impugned orders rejecting the applications for refund; this Court considers it apposite to allow the present petition and remand the matter to Respondent No. 3 to consider the petitioner’s applications afresh in the light of the circular dated 05.07.2022. Petition allowed by way of remand. Petition challenges orders dated 18.05.2022 rejecting four refund applications under Section 54 CGST as belated; rejection was based solely on non-response to Show Cause Notices dated 02.05.2022. After the impugned orders, the Central Board issued a Notification dated 05.07.2022, directing that the 'period from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 is excluded for purposes of computing the period of limitation,' thereby bringing the petitioner's refund claims within limitation. Appeals against the rejection were dismissed as belated. In view of these subsequent developments and the 'peculiar circumstances' of the case, the court remanded the matter for fresh consideration by the authority in light of the 05.07.2022 circular, directing that the respondent 'shall process the application of the petitioner for refund as expeditiously as possible and, in any event, within a period of eight weeks' from the date of the order.