Timely payment under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme is mandatory; belated compliance defeats entitlement to settlement certificate.

The Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme required payment of the amount determined by the designated authority within the statutory period under Section 90(2) of the Finance Act, 1998, and belated payment did not preserve entitlement to full and final settlement benefits. In the absence of any statutory power to condone delay, the authority could not be compelled to issue the settlement certificate on equitable grounds. A refund claim was also not entertained, as there was no corresponding pleading or prayer and Section 93 barred refund.

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Issues: Whether the declarant, having made payment of the amount determined under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme after expiry of the statutory period, remained entitled to the certificate of full and final settlement and consequential relief under the Scheme.

Analysis: The Scheme required payment of the amount determined by the designated authority within the period prescribed under Section 90(2) of the Finance Act, 1998. The Court found that the petitioners did not make payment within that period and that the statute contained no provision enabling condonation of delay in making such payment. In the absence of any statutory power to excuse belated compliance, the authority could not be compelled to issue the certificate on equitable grounds. The Court also declined the oral request for refund, noting both the absence of a pleading or prayer to that effect and the statutory bar against refund under Section 93 of the Finance Act, 1998.

Conclusion: The delay in payment disentitled the petitioners from the benefit of the Scheme and the refusal to issue the certificate was upheld.

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