Respondents Must Process Refund for Amalgamated Company Under NCLT Scheme Within Four Weeks

The HC directed the respondents to process and effectuate the refund claim in favor of the petitioner, which had amalgamated with the original claimant company under a scheme sanctioned by the NCLT. If the refund was not already made to the amalgamated company, the respondents must consider the petitioner's representation and decide after hearing the petitioner within four weeks from the order's communication.

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The Calcutta High Court, through Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, addressed a writ petition seeking a direction for refund of Rs. 3,91,678/- relating to the assessment year 2014-15, originally approved in favor of M/s. KNS Exports Private Limited. The petitioner company was amalgamated with KNS Exports pursuant to the National Company Law Tribunal's order dated 9th July 2019 (CP(CAA) No. 301/KB/2019), which sanctioned a scheme of amalgamation effective from 1st April 2018. The scheme explicitly provides that any tax refunds due to the transferor company (KNS Exports) post-amalgamation shall belong to and be received by the transferee company (the petitioner). Despite the petitioner notifying the Income Tax Officer and surrendering KNS Exports' PAN, and subsequent written requests to credit the refund to the petitioner, no action was taken by the respondents. The Court held that, given the sanctioned scheme and the amalgamation order, the respondents must process the petitioner's representation and effectuate the refund in its favor. The Court directed the respondents to decide on the matter after affording the petitioner an opportunity of hearing, preferably within four weeks. The writ petition was disposed of with no order as to costs.

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