Refund interest under section 244A cannot be denied unilaterally when delay attribution must be by the statutory authority.

Interest on refund under section 244A is the normal consequence, and denial is permitted only when the delay is attributable to the assessee or the deductor. Where exclusion of a period is sought under section 244A(2), that question must be determined by the Principal Chief Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, and the Assessing Officer cannot unilaterally refuse interest. On the facts, the revised return followed recasting of accounts under an approved scheme of arrangement, and the assessee had informed the tax authorities about the TDS reflection glitch. The assessee was therefore entitled to refund interest, and the denial was unsustainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether interest under section 244A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could be denied on the ground that the delay in refund processing was attributable to the assessee, and whether the Assessing Officer could exclude the period of delay without a determination by the authority named in sub-section (2).

Analysis: Interest on refund under section 244A is the normal consequence, and denial is permissible only where the delay is attributable to the assessee or the deductor. Under section 244A(2), any question as to the period to be excluded must be decided by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, whose decision is final. The Assessing Officer could not unilaterally refuse interest merely by stating that the assessee had failed to claim the TDS in the revised return. The factual record also showed that the revised return followed recasting of accounts after the approved scheme of arrangement and that the assessee had notified the CPC and the Assessing Officer about the technical glitch in the TDS reflection.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to interest under section 244A, and the denial of such interest by the Assessing Officer was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The concurrent findings in favour of the assessee on entitlement to refund interest were left undisturbed, and no substantial question of law was found to arise.

Ratio Decidendi: Where delay in refund processing is alleged to be attributable to the assessee, exclusion of the corresponding period for section 244A interest must be determined by the statutory authority specified in section 244A(2), and the Assessing Officer cannot deny interest on his own.

---