Vishwanath Industries Infra Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Vs Assistant Commissioner of Customs (Madras High Court)
The petitioner, Vishwanath Industries Infra Solutions Pvt. Ltd., approached the Madras High Court challenging the order dated 10.12.2025 rejecting its request to process online refund claims for refund of IGST under the respective GST enactments.
The impugned order stated that IGST refund was a completely automated, system-driven process. According to the order, once GST returns were filed, data from GSTN would automatically be transmitted to the Customs System (ICES), and the IGST refund would be sanctioned automatically upon matching with ICES data. On verification of four shipping bills, however, errors were shown on the ICES system.
For Shipping Bill No. 7642106 dated 08.02.2023, the error stated that the eligible latest scroll amount did not tally with the sum of the eligible latest GST amount. The same error was recorded for Shipping Bill No. 6680120 dated 04.01.2023 and Shipping Bill No. 7867231 dated 17.02.2023. In respect of Shipping Bill No. 7229669 dated 24.01.2023, the system stated that the scroll had already been generated, referring to Scroll No. 60262/2024 dated 25.11.2024, with IGST of Rs.469637/- sanctioned.
The respondent further stated that there were no legal or practical provisions available at its end to sanction the IGST refund manually.
The Madras High Court found the impugned order unsustainable. The Court held that the benefit of refund claims, which is statutorily recognised under the respective GST enactments, could not be curtailed or denied merely because of technical issues arising in the web portal. It further stated that the respondent was duty-bound to refund the amounts in accordance with the provisions of the respective GST Enactments, 2017.
Accordingly, the Court quashed the impugned order and directed the respondent to process the petitioner’s refund claims manually by accepting the requisite documents in physical form and to pass appropriate refund orders as expeditiously as possible, preferably within six weeks from receipt of a copy of the order.
The writ petition was disposed of, with no order as to costs.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
The petitioner is before this Court challenging the impugned order dated 10.12.2025, whereby the request of the petitioner to process the online refund claims filed by the petitioner for refund of IGST under the provisions of the respective GST enactments has been rejected with the following observations:
“2. It is intimated that IGST Refund is complete automated system driven process. In other words, once you file GST returns, the data from GSTN will automatically be transmitted to the Customs System (ICES) and upon found being matched with the date of ICES, the system automatically sanction IGST refund. On verification of the 4 Shipping Bills on ICES system, the following errors populated, as mentioned below;
| Sl No | SB No | SB Date | IGST Refund Error Status (Screenshot of message appearing enclosed) |
| 1 | 7642106 | 08.02.2023 | Eligible latest scroll amount does not tally with sum of eligible latest GST amount. |
| 2 | 6680120 | 04.01.2023 | Eligible latest scroll amount does not tally with sum of eligible latest GST amount. |
| 3 | 7867231 | 17.02.2023 | Eligible latest scroll amount does not tally with sum of eligible latest GST amount. |
| 4 | 7229669 | 24.01.2023 | Scroll is already generated. Scroll No.60262/2024 dated 25.11.2024. IGST Amt sanctioned is Rs.469637/ |
3. It is further informed that there is no legal as well as practical provisions available at out end to sanction IGST manually. This is for your kind information please.”
2. On a perusal of the impugned order, I am of the view that it is unsustainable, as the benefit of refund claims, which is statutorily recognised under the provisions of the respective GST Enactments, cannot be curtailed or denied merely on account of technical issues arising in the web portal. The respondent is duty-bound to refund the amounts in accordance with the provisions of the respective GST Enactments, 2017. Therefore, the impugned order is quashed.
3. Therefore, I quash the impugned order and direct the respondent to process the refund claims of the petitioner manually by accepting the requisite documents in physical form and pass appropriate refund orders, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
4. Accordingly, this Writ Petition stands disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs.
