Fives Call – KCP Ltd. Vs Chief Commissioner of Customs (Madras High Court)
The writ petition challenged the proceedings dated 09.09.2022 issued by the third respondent rejecting the petitioner’s claim for refund of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). The refund was rejected on the ground that the petitioner had claimed the higher rate of duty drawback by relying on Circular No. 37/2018 dated 09.10.2018. According to the impugned proceedings, the petitioner had suffixed “A” to the Drawback Scheme Code in Shipping Bills Serial Nos. 1 to 14, indicating an intention to avail the higher rate of drawback. The order further stated that IGST refunds are processed through a computerized module with inbuilt validations and that where the higher rate of drawback has been availed in any Shipping Bill, the system does not permit processing of the IGST refund. On that basis, the petitioner was held ineligible for the IGST refund in terms of Board’s Circular No. 37/2018 dated 09.10.2018.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that Circular No. 37/2018 dated 09.10.2018 had already been declared invalid by the Gujarat High Court in Amit Cotton Industries v. Principal Commissioner of Customs, reported in (2019) 75 GST 33 (Gujarat). It was further submitted that the same judgment had been followed by the Madras High Court in W.P. No. 14847 of 2023 and by a Division Bench of the Madras High Court in M/s. Precot Meridian Limited v. Commissioner of Customs and another, reported in 2020 (1) TMI 90.
