Jal Engineering Through Partner Karishma Shaikh Vs Union of India Through Secretary (Gujarat High Court)
Facts- The petitioner invokes the extraordinary jurisdiction vested in this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and seeks direction against the respondents for immediate sanction of the refund of Integrated Goods and Service Tax paid in regard to the goods exported zero rated supplies made vide Shipping Bills. It is averred that the authority has illegally withheld the refund of the petitioner and the e-mail received from ICEGATE stating that since drawback is claimed at a higher rate of refund of the petitioner, the same cannot be sanctioned U/s 54 of the CGST Act read with Section 16 of the IGST.
In present case, the refunds were stuck due to mismatch of invoice and shipping bills and Central Board of Excise Customs (CBEC) vide Circular No.05 of 2018-Customs dated 23.02.2018 provided an alternative mechanism to give exporters an opportunity to rectify such errors committed in the initial stage. It envisaged an officer interface on the Customs EDI System through which the Custom Officer may verify the information furnished in GSTN and Custom EDI system and sanction refund in those cases where detail of invoice provided in GSTR-01/Table 6A are correct.
Conclusion- Held that the refund towards the IGST paid in respect of the goods exported i.e. “zero rated supplies”, vide the shipping bills ought to have been completed as the two circumstances provided in sub clauses (a) & (b) of Clause (4) of Rule 96 of Rules, 2017 do not exist. The shipping bills, as per Rule 96, exporter once file are deemed to be an application for refund of Integrated tax paid on the exports of goods and withholding of the same is made permissible under Rule 96 (4) when read with Section 54 as specified in the decision of Amit Cotton Industries.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF GUJARAT HIGH COURT
By way of the present petition, the petitioner invokes the extraordinary jurisdiction vested in this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and seeks direction against the respondents for immediate sanction of the refund of Integrated Goods and Service Tax (‘the
IGST’ hereinafter) paid in regard to the goods exported zero rated supplies made vide Shipping Bills No.8465051, 8459617 and 8455069 dated 05.09.2017, 05.09.2017 and 14.09.2017 respectively. It is averred that the authority has illegally withheld the refund of the petitioner and the e-mail received on 14.09.2019 from ICEGATE stating that since drawback is claimed at a higher rate of refund of the petitioner, the same cannot be sanctioned under Section 54 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (‘the CGST Act’ hereinafter) read with Section 16 of the Integrated Goods and Service Tax Act, 2019 (‘the IGST Act’ hereinafter. The petitioner is before this Court seeking following reliefs:
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(A) YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or writ in the nature of mandamus or any other writ, orders or directions to the respondent authorities to immediately sanction the refund of IGST paid in regard to the goods exported i.e. ‘Zero Rated Supplies’ made vide shipping bills mentioned hereinabove;
(B) YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to direct the respondent authorities to pay interest @ 9% to the petitioner herein on the amount of refund from the date of shipping bill till the date on which the amount of refund is paid to the petitioner herein, as the same is arbitrarily and illegally withheld by the respondent authorities;
(C) YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to grant an ex-parte, ad interim order in favour of the petitioner herein in terms of prayer Clause ‘A’ and ‘B’ hereinabove;
(D) Such further relief(s) as deemed fit in the facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be granted in the interest of justice for which act of kindness your Petitioners shall forever pray.”
2. The petitioner is a partnership firm and is engaged in the business of manufacturer, export and supply of premium quality array of Gate Valve, Globe Valve, Swing Check Valve, Ball Valve, pressure Seal Valve, Conduit Gate Valve, etc. It also is registered under the GST Act and having IEC Code.
2.1 During September, 2017, it exported certain goods and hence effected zero rated supply under Section 16 of the IGST Act of finished goods and the total invoice value of Rs.96,13,714/- and the total taxable value of the said export is Rs.78,83,246/-including IGST amount of Rs.17,30,468/-.
The three shipping bills’ details are as follow:
