Facts of the Case

M/s Great Win Exports, a registered GST dealer engaged in export of sea foods, filed a writ petition seeking a direction to Customs and GST authorities to process its refund claim of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on exported goods, under Rule 96 of the CGST Rules, 2017. The petitioner had submitted shipping bills (Exhibits P2 and P3) and an invoice (Exhibit P4) relating to exports made in August 2019; while Rs. 21,639 had been refunded in respect of one shipping bill, the remainder of the claimed Rs. 8,35,997 refund had not been processed despite representations (Exhibits P5 and P6) pending for more than two years.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner's pending IGST refund claim, based on shipping bills over two years old, should be directed to be processed within a fixed timeframe.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • Under Rule 96 of the CGST Rules, 2017, the petitioner was entitled to refund of IGST paid on exported sea food.
  • Only a partial refund (Rs. 21,639) had been processed; the remaining claim, supported by representations dated 13.10.2021 and 19.08.2022, had remained pending for over a year without action.

Respondent's Arguments

  • No specific opposition or counter-submission is recorded in the extracted order.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court disposed of the writ petition by directing the fourth respondent (Commissioner of GST) to take Exhibits P5 and P6 into consideration and process the petitioner's refund claim for the shipping bills at Exhibits P1 and P3, in accordance with law.
  • The petitioner was to be given an opportunity of hearing to substantiate the refund claim, and the necessary order was directed to be passed within two months.

Important Clarification

The Court did not itself quantify or grant the refund — it directed the GST authorities to process the long-pending claim within two months, after hearing the petitioner. Whether the full remaining amount (approximately Rs. 8.14 lakh) is actually refunded depends on that departmental decision, not on this order.

Sections Involved

  • Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 — Rule 96 (refund of IGST paid on export of goods)
  • Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (IGST on exports)

Decision – In Favour of

Disposed of in favour of the Petitioner to the extent of a time-bound direction (two months) to process the pending refund claim — the actual refund amount remains to be determined by the department.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam
  • Case No.: WP(C) NO. 30167 OF 2023
  • Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh
  • Date of Judgment: 18.09.2023

Link to Download the Order

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