The Delhi High Court has summoned GST Officer, Sanjay Kumar Bansal over denial of refund and scheduled the hearing on 5th May, 2025.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta has observed that the petition marks the second instance wherein the Petitioner has approached this Court seeking refund. It is a matter of concern that almost a year ago, the same Petitioner had appeared before a Coordinate Bench of this Court, which, after considering the matter, directed that the refund amount be re-credited within a period of two weeks. It is unfortunate to see that despite the amount being in the Electronic cash ledger, the refund has not been given to the Petitioner till date.
The petition revealed the harrowing experience that a genuine person has gone through in obtaining a refund from the GST Department. The Petitioner, Ms. Bhavna Luthra is the wife of late Mr. Narain Das Luthra who was the proprietor of M/s Hunny Enterprises.
He had also registered himself qua M/s Hunny Enterprises with the GST Department.
Narain Das passed away. The death certificate is placed on record. Upon his demise, an application was made by the Petitioner for cancellation of the GST registration and the same was cancelled with effect from 1st January, 2021 vide order dated 10th August, 2021. However, the electronic cash ledger of the firm (M/s Hunny Enterprises) had an excess balance of which the Petitioner- widow claimed for refund. The application was rejected by the GST Department.
As per the order, refund was to be issued in two weeks. Despite the above order, the refund has not been granted till date but rather a completely baseless order dated 30th July, 2024 has been passed by the GST Department holding that the refund would not be liable to be paid, as the Petitioner is not a person registered with the GST Department.
The order has been passed by one Sanjay Kumar Bansal, Assistant Commissioner, Old Delhi Division. The order stated that the GST Department has asked the Petitioner to explain as to why she is an unregistered person. Since the Petitioner did not appear for personal hearing the refund has been rejected.
Upon being queried as to the reason for not processing the refund, GST Department submitted that the essential supporting documents supporting the factum of death of the Petitioner’s husband were not placed along with the application for the refund.
The court listed the matter on 5th May, 2025. The concerned officer Mr. Sanjay Kumar Bansal, shall remain physically present in the Court on the next date of hearing.
Case Details
Case Title: Proprietor Of M/S. Hunny Enterprises Versus Assistant Commissioner
Case No.: W.P.(C) 4551/2025
Date: 09/04/2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Mr. Puneet Rai, Mr. Sushil Gaba, Mr. Kapil Sharma & Ms. Srishti Sharma
Counsel For Respondent: Piyush Beriwal
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