2009 (3) TMI 927

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....d September 1, 2005 (P3). The petitioner has also claimed interest on the aforementioned amount under the provisions of section 12(3) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (for brevity, "the 1948 Act") with effect from December 1, 2005, i.e., after expiry of period of ninety days from the date of passing of order dated September 1, 2005 by the Tribunal, till the date of actual refund by the respondents. Brief facts of the case are that consignment of tyres despatched from Mysore was reported on May 7, 2000 at 6.30 a. m. at Mahmadpur (Shamboo) near Rajpura. Even though all the documents were produced, the vehicle and the consignment were detained at Paragpur (Jalandhar) by the Excise and Taxation Officer (Mobile Wing) and penalty was ....

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....ame up before the Division Bench on October 22, 2008, learned counsel for the petitioner apprised the court that the amount was refunded without interest, which was against the statutory provisions of section 12(3) of the 1948 Act, requiring the payment of interest if the refund was beyond ninety days. The learned counsel has further asserted that in spite of order dated August 25, 2008, interest has not been paid to the petitioner. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, the Division Bench made the following observations: "10. From the above, it is clear that there is gross dereliction of duties in not making the refund for a period of more than three years and the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner did not take any step ....

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....ated October 22, 2008, an affidavit of the Chief Secretary, Punjab, dated November 21, 2008, has been filed, stating that the refund has been made to the petitioner and the Chief Secretary had a meeting with Financial Commissioner, Excise and Taxation for evolving a mechanism. The explanations of some officers have also been called and appropriate action was to be taken after considering the reply. In the minutes of meeting, dated November 20, 2008 (R1 Colly), it has been mentioned that method and system should be in place so that right of a person to receive refund can be duly looked after. It has been further observed that a monitoring system needs to be drawn up to ensure compliance of statutory provisions. The Department has disposed of....