Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.Vs ITO (Gujarat High Court)
Summary: The Gujarat High Court considered a group of writ petitions concerning interest on refunds under the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 (VsV Act, 2020). The petitions arose from delayed refund of amounts that had been covered by Form-5 issued under the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme. Special Civil Application No. 6542 of 2026 was taken up as the lead matter, while the first-captioned petition was Special Civil Application No. 6494 of 2026. The petitioner claimed interest from 01.08.2021 until 02.03.2024, when the refund was actually credited, whereas the respondents had granted interest only from 01.07.2022 to 07.02.2024.
The petitioner relied upon Form-5 issued on 24.05.2021 and contended that the respondents were required to give effect to the Form-5 without waiting for a separate consequential order beyond the period contemplated by the CBDT’s Central Action Plan 2021–2022. Reliance was placed upon sub-section (2) of Section 5 of the VsV Act, 2020 and Rule 7 of the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Rules, 2020. The petitioner also relied upon Clause-9 of Chapter-VI of the CBDT Central Action Plan 2021–2022, which contemplated consequential orders and refunds within the specified period where Form-5 had been issued up to 30.06.2021.
