Case Law Details
Huawei Telecommunications (India) Company Private Limited Vs Union of India and others (Punjab and Haryana High Court)
he note of approval of the Principal Commissioner was also perused by us, the only reason mentioned was that there was an amount outstanding of Rs. 5 crores odd against the petitioner and for the said reason, the refund is withheld. Learned counsel for the petitioner disputed the fact and submitted that the said demand was set aside. Be that as it may, the pendency of demand of Rs. 5 crores cannot be a ground for withholding almost refund of Rs. 300 crores, as per Section 245, the due amount could be set off against the refund due.
he note of approval of the Principal Commissioner was also perused by us, the only reason mentioned was that there was an amount outstanding of Rs. 5 crores odd against the petitioner and for the said reason, the refund is withheld. Learned counsel for the petitioner disputed the fact and submitted that the said demand was set aside. Be that as it may, the pendency of demand of Rs. 5 crores cannot be a ground for withholding almost refund of Rs. 300 crores, as per Section 245, the due amount could be set off against the refund due.
The contention of the respondents to remit the matter back is not found worth acceptance as in the present case, there are no reasons even in the record to support the finding that refund would adversely affect the revenue and the note in approval file that there was demand of Rs. 5 crores pending has been found not good enough to withhold the refund of more than Rs. 300 crores. Even the officials present in Court were not in a position to cite any material or reason with regard to adverse affect of refund on revenue, it would be an exercise in futility to give another opportunity.
In view of the above, writ petition is allowed. The impugned order is quashed. The respondents are directed to issue refund for the assessment year 2017-18 and 2018-19 along with statutory interest not later than within four weeks from receipt of certified copy.
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