Kuehne Nagel Pvt. Ltd. Vs Union of India (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court heard a batch of writ petitions involving an identical issue and, with the consent of the parties, took them up for final disposal by treating Special Civil Application No. 4373 of 2026 as the lead matter.
The petitioner challenged the order dated 09.02.2026 to the extent it denied interest on a GST refund. While the refund amount of Rs. 2,29,32,535 had been sanctioned, the claim for interest of Rs. 29,51,700 was rejected on the ground that the conditions for accrual of interest under Section 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 were not satisfied.
The petitioner had originally filed a refund application on 14.10.2023. That application was not accepted, compelling the petitioner to file Special Civil Application No. 12151 of 2025. By judgment dated 06.11.2025, the High Court set aside the respondents’ action in refusing the refund application and directed the authorities to process the refund claim in accordance with law. Following that order, the petitioner filed another refund application on 11.11.2025. The respondent authority thereafter sanctioned the refund but denied interest by treating the subsequent application as the relevant application for the purposes of Section 56 of the CGST Act.
