Case Details: Aparnaa Sarees Pvt. Ltd. Versus State of West Bengal (2025) 27 Centax 105 (Cal.)
Judiciary and Counsel Details
- T.S. Sivagnanam, CJ. & Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.
- S/Shri Debanuj Basu Thakur, Atish Chakraborty for the Applicant.
- S/Shri Anirban Ray, Md. T. M. Siddiqui, Tanoy Chakraborty, Saptak Sanyal for the Respondent.
Facts of the Case
The assessee was entitled to a refund under the VAT regime, a portion of which was adjusted against VAT liabilities, while the remaining amount continued to be retained by the department. Following the transition to the GST regime, no statutory mechanism existed under the CGST Act, 2017 / WBGST Act, 2017 for processing refunds of amounts collected under the erstwhile VAT framework. In light of this, the assessee filed a review application before the Calcutta High Court, seeking modification of the previous order and a direction for the release of the outstanding refund along with interest. The assessee contended that, in the absence of a statutory framework under GST, the department’s continued retention of the amount was legally untenable.
High Court Held
The Hon’ble Calcutta High Court held that, post-implementation of the GST regime, no statutory provision governed the refund of amounts collected under the VAT regime. Considering the absence of a prescribed mechanism, the court directed the revenue authorities to refund the balance amount, after adjusting the portion already set off, along with interest in accordance with the previous order. The refund was to be processed within 12 weeks from the date of receipt of the server copy of the order.
