Refund interest on service tax was denied where the fresh claim was processed within the statutory period and no delay was shown.

Interest was not payable on a service tax refund where the refund application had to be filed afresh pursuant to the High Court's direction and the authorities sanctioned the refund within 90 days of that application. The earlier refund claim filed by the Housing Board was not treated as the appellant's own claim, so there was no delay in processing the operative application. In the absence of statutory provision supporting interest from the date of original deposit, and because the cited cases concerned delayed refunds, the claim for interest was rejected.

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Issues: Whether interest was payable on the refund of service tax sanctioned to the appellant when the refund application was filed pursuant to the High Court's direction and the refund was granted within the statutory period.

Analysis: The refund claim was required to be filed afresh by the appellant, and the authorities sanctioned the refund within 90 days of that application. The earlier claim filed by the Housing Board was not treated as the appellant's claim. In the absence of delay in processing the refund, and in the absence of any statutory basis for granting interest from the date of original deposit, the claim for interest could not be sustained. The cited decisions were found inapplicable because they concerned delayed refunds.

Conclusion: Interest on the refunded amount was not payable, and the claim was rejected.

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