GST refund limitation exclusion under notified relaxation bars rejection of a claim as time-barred.

Under GST refund provisions, a claim cannot be rejected as time-barred where a binding notification excludes a specified period from limitation computation and that exclusion brings the application within time. The refund application had been filed beyond the ordinary two-year period, but the taxpayer relied on the CBIC notification dated 05.07.2022 excluding 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 for limitation under the refund provisions. As the revenue did not dispute the notification's issuance or applicability, the HC held the limitation-based rejection unsustainable, quashed the impugned rejection, and directed reconsideration of the refund claim in light of the notification.

---

---

Issues: Whether the rejection of the petitioner's refund claim as time-barred could be sustained in view of the exclusion of the specified period for limitation under the notified GST relaxation.

Analysis: The refund application had been filed beyond the ordinary two-year limitation period. However, the petitioner relied on the notification dated 05.07.2022 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs excluding the period from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 for computation of limitation under Sections 54 and 55 of the Act. The revenue did not dispute the issuance or applicability of the notification to the facts of the case. In these circumstances, the limitation-based rejection could not stand.

Conclusion: The rejection of the refund claim on limitation was unsustainable and the petitioner succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The impugned rejection was quashed and the refund matter was directed to be reconsidered in light of the notification.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a binding notification excludes a specified period from computation of limitation under the GST refund provisions, a refund claim cannot be rejected as time-barred if the excluded period brings the claim within time.

---