The Kerala High Court while directing the Custom Commissioner to refund the dual payment to the petitioner held that the State is not expected to get unduly enriched by inadvertent payments of money.
The petitioner, M/s Seahorse Ship Agencies was the Agent of the vessel M. V. Cape Chronos. The vessel was to call at Cochin Port Trust. The vessel was expected to arrive in the evening. In the morning, the petitioner remitted Light Dues amounting to Rs.6,33,144/- through the web portal of the Director-General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL).
However, the receipt was not generated by the web portal. The petitioner was under the impression that the online payment had not gone through. The vessel was to arrive in the evening and in the absence of proof of payment of Light Dues, the petitioner would have faced difficulties. The petitioner, therefore, made a manual payment of Rs.6,33,144 before the Cochin Customs, for which receipt was issued.
On the following day, the petitioner-Company received a receipt for the payment made online. The petitioner accordingly and unintentionally made dual payment.
Though the double payment was made in the year 2016, due to the resignation of the Accountant of the petitioner soon thereafter, the petitioner failed to take appropriate steps to get back the duplicate payment made.
When the Auditors of the petitioner noted the dual payment, the petitioner submitted a letter to the Commissioner of Customs seeking repayment of the duplicate payment.
The Commissioner of Customs, however, instead of repaying the duplicate payment, advised the petitioner to file an application for refund before the Assistant Commissioner of Customs (Refunds). The petitioner accordingly made an application.
The Assistant Commissioner of Customs rejected the petitioner’s application for refund, on the ground that the claim was made after the period of six months prescribed under the Lighthouse Act, 1927.
The single-judge bench of Justice N.Nagaresh said that the State and its authorities are not expected to act in a Shylochian manner and squeeze money from its citizens. Levy of any tax/dues should have the authority of law. If the petitioner calculated Light Dues in respect of the Vessel correctly and remitted the correct amount, then Section 19 of the Act, 1927 cannot be resorted to withholding an erroneous double payment or dual payment made by a citizen due to a system error or failure.
Therefore, the court ordered the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of Customs to refund to the petitioner the dual payment made, within a period of one month.
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