Refund of adjusted tax balance must be credited to the electronic cash register and cannot be treated as lapsed.

Refundable amounts remaining after adjustment of the petitioner's tax liability could not be appropriated or treated as lapsed by the Government. The Madras HC held that, where a balance remained payable to the assessee, it had to be refunded in the manner required by Section 142(8)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The impugned appropriation was therefore unsustainable, and the respondent was directed to give effect to the refund by crediting the amount in the electronic cash register.

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Issues: Whether the respondent could appropriate the refundable balance arising after adjustment of the petitioner's tax liability against Central Sales Tax and other dues, and whether the balance amount was liable to be refunded and credited in the electronic cash register under Section 142(8)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The writ challenge to the assessment order was found unsustainable in the sense that the impugned appropriation itself could not be sustained. The Court held that amounts found due and payable to the petitioner after adjustment of tax liability could not be treated as lapsed or retained by the Government. Where the refund remained payable, it had to be returned to the assessee. The Court also rejected the premise that the amount could be appropriated on the footing of lapse, and directed that the refund be given effect through credit in the electronic cash register in accordance with Section 142(8)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Conclusion: The respondent was directed to refund Rs. 5,89,030/- to the petitioner by crediting it in the electronic cash register, and the appropriation made in the impugned order was held unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Amounts found refundable after tax adjustment cannot be appropriated or treated as lapsed, and must be refunded in the manner mandated by Section 142(8)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

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