Sanjay Kumar Lohia Vs Assistant Commissioner, Cooch Behar, Commercial Taxes & State, GST & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
Calcutta High Court recently ruled in the case of Sanjay Kumar Lohia vs. Assistant Commissioner, Cooch Behar, Commercial Taxes & State, GST & Ors., addressing a petitioner’s claim for a refund of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). The petitioner, Sanjay Kumar Lohia, had initially deposited ₹12,01,460/- as IGST for the tax period of April 2018 to March 2019. Subsequently, proceedings under Section 73 of the West Bengal Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017, were initiated against him. To resolve these proceedings, the petitioner deposited the same amount as Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and West Bengal Goods and Services Tax (WBGST) for the identical period, leading to the closure of the Section 73 proceedings. Following this, Mr. Lohia sought a refund of the previously paid IGST, arguing that it constituted an excess payment as he had already fulfilled his tax obligation through the CGST and WBGST payments for the relevant period.
Both the adjudicating authority and the appellate authority rejected the petitioner’s refund request. Their refusal was based on a discrepancy in the challan, which incorrectly stated the tax period as 2019-20 instead of 2018-19. The respondents’ counsel contended that the petitioner should have filed a rectification application under Section 37/39 of the Act to correct the error in the challan. However, the High Court observed that the authorities had, in effect, accepted the payment for the 2018-19 period by dropping the Section 73 proceedings upon the deposit of CGST and WBGST. The court found that the erroneous tax period mentioned in the challan should not impede the refund of an amount admittedly paid twice for the same period. Since there were no outstanding dues from the petitioner up to July 2024, the court concluded that the petitioner should not be denied the refund of the excess amount. Consequently, the High Court directed the Assistant Commissioner to refund the ₹12,01,460/- deposited as IGST to the petitioner within four weeks from the communication of the order.
