The Bombay High Court held that the refund application filed Manually not supposed to be filed in FORM GST RFD 01 on GST portal.
Having failed to upload “Statement 5B” along with refund applications which were filed online, the petitioner, Laxmi Organic Industries Ltd. applied manually on 10th June, 2021 and 22nd June, 2021 for F.Y.s 2018-19 and 2019-2020. Such applications were returned without being processed with an instruction that in terms of Circular No. 125/44/2019-GST dated 18th November 2019, a refund application has to be filed in FORM GST RFD 01 on the common portal and the same has to be processed electronically, with effect from 26th September 2019. Such an instruction is contained in a letter issued by the Superintendent, Tech-, Division-II, CGST & C. Ex., Raigad.
Mr. Raichandani, advocate for the petitioner has invited our attention to rule 97A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 and contended that such rule permits processing of an application for refund filed manually and not on the common portal as referred to in the impugned circular. According to him, the terms of rule 97A of the CGST Rules are such that an application filed manually has to be accepted and an order passed thereon one way or the other. It is contended that the said Superintendent acted illegally in not accepting and processing the application for refund.
The division bench headed by the Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice M.S.Karnik concluded that the impugned circular would certainly be applicable to all applications filed electronically on the common portal, but the impugned circular cannot affect or control the statutory rule, i.e., rule 97A of the CGST Rules or derogate from it.
“The impugned circular is clarified and it is observed that its terms shall be applicable only to applications filed electronically on the common portal but would have no applicability to an application for refund which is filed manually,” the court said.
The court permitted the petitioner to file afresh the application for refund manually within a fortnight from date and on such receipt, the said Superintendent shall process the same and ensure that the application is taken to its logical conclusion in accordance with law as early as possible, preferably within 2 months thereof.
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