Delayed refund interest under VAT law applies from the statutory expiry when refund approval should have been secured.

Interest on delayed refund under the Haryana Value Added Tax Act must be read with the refund approval mechanism, so Sections 20(6), 20(9) and 20(10) operate together and Rule 42 requires timely placement of the refund proposal before the competent authority. The interest provision cannot be construed in isolation so as to make any part of Section 20 redundant. Where approval should have been obtained within the prescribed period but the refund was released much later, statutory interest is payable from the expiry of the period when approval ought to have been in place. The refusal of interest was set aside and the dealer was held entitled to interest on the delayed refund.

---

---

Issues: Whether interest on delayed refund under Section 20 of the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003 was payable to the dealer, and from what date the period of interest was to be computed.

Analysis: Section 20 of the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003 creates different refund situations, and the provision for approval under Section 20(6) has to be read with the interest provisions in Sections 20(9) and 20(10). Rule 42 of the Haryana Value Added Tax Rules, 2003 requires the refund proposal to be placed before the competent authority sufficiently in advance so that approval is completed within the period contemplated for refund without interest. The interest clause cannot be read in isolation in a manner that makes any part of Section 20 redundant. On the facts, approval ought to have been obtained within the prescribed period and the refund was released much later.

Conclusion: Interest was payable to the dealer on the delayed refund, computed from the expiry of the statutory period after approval should have been in place, and the objection of the Revenue was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The impugned refusal of interest was set aside and the assessee was held entitled to statutory interest on the delayed refund amount.

Ratio Decidendi: The refund approval mechanism and the interest provisions under Section 20 of the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003 must be construed together, so that delay in granting or acting upon refund approval does not defeat the dealer's entitlement to interest on delayed refund.

---