Aviation Management Sales LLC Vs Union of India (Karnataka High Court)
The Karnataka High Court disposed of a writ petition challenging the rejection of a refund claim relating to Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) and Compensation Cess amounting to ₹11,03,71,781 paid in connection with the export of an aircraft in October 2018. The writ petition was filed against an Order-in-Original dated 09.09.2020 and a subsequent Order-in-Appeal dated 04.10.2021, by which the authorities rejected the refund application submitted by the Official Liquidator of the High Court of Karnataka on behalf of the petitioner.
According to the memo filed by the petitioner’s counsel, although the IGST amount had been paid by the petitioner, the amount was ultimately remitted to the government by the Official Liquidator. Based on this arrangement, the Official Liquidator filed the refund application as advised. The refund claim was rejected by the adjudicating authority on the ground that the exporter of the goods was the petitioner and not the Official Liquidator who had filed the application. The appellate authority upheld the Order-in-Original and maintained the same finding.
Aggrieved by the rejection of the refund despite the finding that the petitioner had exported the goods, the petitioner approached the High Court by filing the writ petition. In the objections filed before the Court, the respondents contended that the writ petition was not maintainable because the impugned orders had rejected a refund application filed by the Official Liquidator and not by the petitioner.
