Page 74 - GSTL_14th May 2020_Vol 36_Part 2

176 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 36
25 of the similarly situated writ application being Special Civil Application No.
15925 of 2018 [2019 (28) G.S.T.L. 385 (Guj.)] as under :
“14. Section 56 of the CGST Act provides that if any tax ordered to be re-
funded under sub-section (5) of Section 54 to any applicant is not refunded
within sixty days from the date of receipt of the application under sub-
section (1) of that section, interest at such rate not exceeding 6% as may be
specified in the notification issued by the Government on the recommenda-
tions of the Council shall be payable in respect of such refund from the date
immediately after the expiry of sixty days from the date of receipt of the
application under the sub-section till the date of refund of such tax. Section
56 of the CGST Act reproduced hereinbelow :-
Section 56. Interest on Delayed Refunds. - If any tax ordered to be
refunded under sub-section (5) of section 54 to any applicant is not re-
funded within sixty days from the date of receipt of application under
sub-section (1) of that section, interest at such rate not exceeding six
per cent. as may be specified in the notification issued by the Gov-
ernment on the recommendations of the Council shall be payable in
respect of such refund from the date immediately after the expiry of
sixty days from the date of receipt of application under the said sub-
section till the date of refund of such tax :
Provided that where any claim of refund arises from an order passed
by an adjudicating authority or Appellate Authority or Appellate Tri-
bunal or court which has attained finality and the same is not refund-
ed within sixty days from the date of receipt of application filed con-
sequent to such order, interest at such rate not exceeding nine per
cent. as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations
of the Council shall be payable in respect of such refund from the
date immediately after the expiry of sixty days from the date of re-
ceipt of application till the date of refund.
Explanation. - For the purposes of this section, where any order of re-
fund is made by an Appellate Authority, Appellate Tribunal or any
court against an order of the proper officer under sub-section (5) of
section 54, the order passed by the Appellate Authority, Appellate
Tribunal or by the court shall be deemed to be an order passed under
the said sub-section (5).
15. Rule 94 of the CGST provides for the order sanctioning interest on de-
layed refunds. It reads as follows:-
Rule 94. Order Sanctioning Interest on Delayed Refunds. - Where
any interest is due and payable to the applicant under section 56, the
proper officer shall make an order along with a payment order in
FORM GST RFD-05, specifying therein the amount of refund which is
delayed, the period of delay for which interest is payable and the
amount of interest payable, and such amount of interest shall be elec-
tronically credited to any of the bank accounts of the applicant men-
tioned in his registration particulars and as specified in the applica-
tion for refund.
16. We shall now look into few decisions of different High Courts includ-
ing our High Court on the subject.
17. The Calcutta High Court in the case of Shiv Kumar Jain v. Union of India
reported in 2004 (168) E.L.T. 158 (Cal.) held as under :-
“4. In my view, the time taken for refund of the money in terms of
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