Matrix Cellular (International) Services Pvt Ltd Vs Principal Commissioner State Tax Delhi & Anr (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court directed department to refund inadvertently deposit made into Electronic Cash Ledger under GST along with interest @6%. Thus, petition disposed of accordingly.
Facts- The Petitioner obtained the GST registration as Input Service Distributor on 10thJuly, 2017. According to the Petitioner, it had inadvertently deposited a sum of Rs.3,39,79,974/- in its Electronic Cash Ledger between August, 2017 to January, 2018. The Petitioner was under the mistaken impression that only Input Tax Credit could be distributed through the ISD account and the cash deposit was not permissible for distribution. In view thereof, owing to the inadvertent deposit, the Petitioner filed a refund application on 12th April, 2018 seeking refund of the said amount. The Respondent – Delhi GST Department debited the amount from ECL and the same was to be credited into the Petitioner’s bank account. However, unfortunately the anticipated credit did not take place.
A deficiency memo was issued to the Petitioner on 3rd March, 2020. In order to rectify the deficiency, and upon the Department clarifying the Petitioner’s earlier misunderstanding, the Petitioner submitted a withdrawal application seeking to withdraw the original refund application, under the bona fide belief that the refund amount would thereafter be credited. However, as the amount continued to remain uncredited, the Petitioner addressed repeated representations to the Authorities, but to no avail. Despite repeated follow ups, the amount was not credited, hence this writ petition.
