IGST Refund Denial for Illegible B/L Set Aside

Case Details: Indorama India (P.) Ltd. vs. State of West Bengal [2026] 185 taxmann.com 161 (Calcutta)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

Kausik Chanda, J.
Abhratosh Majumdar, Avra Mazumdar, Ms. Alisha Das and Ms. Rupomita Ghosh for the Petitioner.
Manasi Mukherjee, Bijitesh Mukherjee, Tanoy Chakraborty and Saptak Sanyal for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner had filed a refund application in Form GST-RFD-01 seeking a refund of IGST paid on ocean freight in respect of import transactions for the relevant period. The claim was made relying upon the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Mohit Minerals case [2022] 138 taxmann.com 331 (SC)/[2022] 92 GST 101 (SC)/[2022] 61 GSTL 257 (SC). The refund sanctioning authority allowed the claim after examination of the application. The department thereafter preferred an appeal before the appellate authority challenging the sanction of refund. The appellate authority allowed the departmental appeal and reversed the refund solely on the ground that the shipping line status was not verified and that the bill of lading on record was illegible. The petitioner thereafter approached the High Court.

High Court Held

The High Court held that the appellate authority had reversed the refund on the basis of illegibility of the bill of lading and absence of verification regarding the shipping line. It was observed that the question of refund eligibility required consideration of a legible bill of lading along with the relevant documentary evidence on record. The High Court further held that the petitioner ought to have been afforded an opportunity to place a legible copy of the bill of lading and other relevant documents before the appellate authority. It was held that the denial of such an opportunity vitiated the consideration of the matter on the merits. Consequently, the matter was remanded to the appellate authority for reconsideration after granting due opportunity to the petitioner.