Shree Ramdoot Metloys Private Limited & Anr. Vs Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (Calcutta High Court)
Summary: The case of Shree Ramdoot Metloys Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. vs. Assistant Commissioner of State Tax before the Calcutta High Court focused on the rejection of a GST refund claim. The petitioner, engaged in manufacturing and exporting ferro alloys, had paid Integrated GST (IGST) on exports and expected a refund under Rule 96 of the IGST Rules, 2017. Typically, shipping bills serve as refund applications, and once a valid return is filed in Form GSTR-3B, refunds are automatically processed. However, the department withheld the refund under Rule 96(4)(c), citing discrepancies. A system-generated refund application in Form GST RFD-01 was issued, but the petitioner failed to identify it on the GST portal, leading to a missed response deadline and subsequent refund rejection. The petitioner argued that the GST portal’s design made it difficult to detect the system-generated application. They were unaware of the need to manually access the refund module to view the notification. The department contended that the refund was rightly withheld and that proper notifications were issued via the common portal. The court, upon reviewing the case, found that the petitioner was not given a fair opportunity to rectify the issue. It noted that the portal’s structure contributed to the oversight and that the petitioner, awaiting a direct refund to their bank account, had no reason to frequently check the refund module. Consequently, the court ruled in favor of the petitioner, citing a violation of the principles of natural justice. The rejection order was set aside, and the petitioner was granted two weeks to respond to the show cause notice, with the department directed to reassess the refund claim within four weeks.
Judge: Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury
Petitioners’ Advocates: Mr. Ankit Kanodia, Ms. Megha Agarwal and Mr. Piyush Khaitan
Respondents’ Advocates:
