Refund

Even if the assessee has not claimed the refund in the return form itself, it cannot be said that the assessee is not entitled to the refund, as held by DelHC in Indglonal Investment & Finance Ltd & Anr v ITO; Writ Petition (Civil) No 7127 of 2008.

Decided on: 3 June 2011.

In favour of: The assessee.

Practice and procedure — When a statutory authority does not pass any order and fails to comply with the statutory mandate within a reasonable time, they cannot take the defence of laches and delay.

In favour of: The revenue.

Wealth tax — Refund — If no notice is issued under s 16(2) and no intimation for a refund or payment of tax was issued within two years, the acknowledgment issued at the time of filing of the return by the revenue is treated as the intimation. Since in the present case, the order of intimation has attained finality and the return of wealth has also not been revised, the tax paid by the petitioner is not to be refunded.