Refund claims and limitation: delayed applications cannot be rejected without hearing the dealer on sufficient cause.

Where the refund scheme permits delayed filing on sufficient cause, a dealer's claim cannot be rejected as time-barred without first being given an opportunity to explain the delay. Under the Assam VAT framework, refund of excess tax is subject to the prescribed limitation period, but the proviso to Rule 29 allows admission of a delayed application on sufficient cause shown. The High Court therefore found the limitation-based rejection unsustainable because no prior notice or hearing on delay was afforded. The refund refusals were set aside and the matters remitted for fresh consideration of delay and refund entitlement in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether refund claims under the Assam Value Added Tax Act could be rejected as time-barred without giving the dealer an opportunity to explain the delay, and whether the matter required remand for reconsideration of the refund applications.

Analysis: Section 50 of the Assam Value Added Tax Act, 2003 entitles a dealer to refund of excess tax paid, subject to the claim being made within the prescribed time. Rule 29 of the Assam Value Added Tax Rules, 2005 requires the refund application to be filed within 180 days, but the proviso permits admission of a delayed application if sufficient cause is shown. The impugned orders rejected the refund claims on limitation grounds, yet they did not show that the petitioner had been put to notice or given an opportunity to explain the delay. Since the statutory scheme itself allows consideration of sufficient cause, rejection without affording that opportunity was unsustainable. The Court also treated the absence of a concluded assessment/refund process as a circumstance requiring the prescribed authority to examine the delay and the refund entitlement afresh.

Conclusion: The rejection orders could not be sustained. The matters were required to be reconsidered by the prescribed authority after giving the petitioner an opportunity to explain the delay, and the refund claims were to be processed in accordance with law if excess tax was found payable.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions succeeded to the extent that the impugned refund rejections were set aside and the matters were sent back for fresh decision on the refund claims after consideration of delay.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the refund statute permits delayed filing on sufficient cause, a claim cannot be rejected as time-barred without first giving the dealer an opportunity to explain the delay.

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