Refund interest entitlement accepted where assessment additions were deleted and statutory interest became payable on the restored refund.

Interest on income-tax refund was claimed under sections 214 and 244(1A) after assessment additions were deleted in appeal, restoring the assessee's entitlement to the original refund. The Tribunal followed its earlier decision on identical facts and accepted that the statutory interest was legally payable. Refusal to grant the interest was therefore not sustained, and the assessee's claim succeeded. The text also indicates that correction under section 154 was sought in relation to the non-grant of interest, but the decisive point was that the refund interest itself was due on the facts.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to interest on the refund under section 214 and section 244(1A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and whether refusal to grant such interest could be corrected under section 154.

Analysis: The appeals concerned a claim for interest on refund where additions made in assessment had been deleted in appeal, leaving the assessee entitled to the original refund. The Tribunal treated the matter as covered by its earlier decision on identical facts and accepted that the interest claimed was legally due to the assessee. On that basis, the refusal to grant interest was not sustained.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to interest under sections 214 and 244(1A), and the appeals were allowed.

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