MEGA MEDIA SOLUTIONS Vs. COMMISSIONER TRADE & TAXES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is yet another case where the Respondents are seeking to avoid granting refund to the Petitioner on the basis of "zero demand orders"

(2.) The practice of passing "zero demand" orders to deny refunds was frowned upon by this Court even earlier. Illustratively, reference may be made to the orders dated 21st November, 2016 in W.P.(C) No.9252/2016 (Aesthetic Packaging v. Commissioner of VAT) and 6th August, 2018 in W.P.(C) No.1563/2018 (M/s Arora Enterprises v. Commissioner, Trade & Taxes). Yet, the practice has not stopped.

(3.) This petition itself has a chequered history. The Petitioner is a proprietorship registered under the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004 ("DVAT Act") as well as the Central Sales Tax Act, 1957 ("CST Act"). The Court is informed that the Petitioner has since sought cancellation of the CST registration. The Petitioner filed the present petition aggrieved by the denial of refund in the total sum of Rs.133,87,364/-, in respect of the tax periods from May to December, 2010 and January, February, March and May, 2011. Paragraph 2 of the writ petition sets out the details of the refund amount claimed for each of the above assessment periods and the dates of the respective returns in which refunds were made. Admittedly, the earliest of those returns is dated 25th June, 2010 and the last of such returns (for May, 2011) is 26th June, 2011.