Delayed statutory refund interest is limited by accrual rules and limitation, with recovery confined to the legally enforceable period.

Interest on delayed statutory refund accrues after the expiry of the prescribed ninety-day waiting period from the refund claim, but only delay attributable to the claimant can be excluded. The Court applied the limitation principle governing interest on money due and held that the claim was recoverable only for the period legally within limitation when the petition was filed. As interest on continued non-payment accrues month by month, the petitioner was entitled only to interest for the three years immediately preceding the petition until refund was disbursed.

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Issues: Entitlement to interest on delayed refund of tax and the period for which such interest could be claimed.

Analysis: Refund had become due on the assessment order and the claim for refund was made within the statutory time. The refund remained unpaid for a long period, and there was no pleading or finding that the delay in grant of refund was attributable to the petitioner. Under the refund provision, interest on delayed refund accrues after the expiry of ninety days from the date of the claim, and the statutory explanation permits exclusion only of delay attributable to the claimant. The Court applied the limitation principle for money payable as interest upon money due and held that the claim for interest could be confined to the period within limitation. Since interest accrues month by month on continued non-payment, only the portion falling within the immediately preceding three years before filing of the petition survived.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to interest at 1.5% per month on the refund amount for the three years immediately preceding the filing of the petition until disbursal of the refund.

Final Conclusion: The delayed refund claim succeeded only to the extent of interest for the limited period found to be within limitation, and the respondents were directed to pay such interest within the time fixed by the Court.

Ratio Decidendi: Interest on delayed statutory refund accrues from the expiry of the statutory waiting period, but a claim for such interest is confined by limitation to the period legally recoverable at the time of filing, subject to exclusion only of delay attributable to the claimant.

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