Refund of GST amount to the Contractor — The petitioner is aggrieved by the alleged delay on the part of the respondents in sanctioning the amount of GST receivable by him. The petitioner submitted that by virtue of circulars dated 14.12.2017 and 01.03.2019 and the order dated 22.12.2019, Government had decided that the entire GST or a portion of it, as the case may be, paid by the respective contractors be refunded back to the Contractors. The petitioner had not paid the GST, anticipating the disbursement of the same by the respondents, to enable the petitioner to pay the same to the respective GST Department. Petitioner further contended that, despite waiting for several years, and in spite of the representations submitted, the respondents have not disbursed the eligible GST amounts due to the petitioner. The department counsel submitted that the eligibility of the petitioner to be entitled for the amounts to be disbursed is to be adjudicated and considered on a case to case basis. There cannot be a blanket direction to disburse the amount, in the absence of any proper verification and consideration by the competent authorities. The court observed that the 1st respondent has to take a decision on representations in a time bound manner.

Held that:- The Hon’ble High Court directed the 1st respondent to consider representations, as expeditiously as possible, within a period of three months, after hearing the petitioner. If the petitioner is found eligible to be paid the amounts, after such consideration, the amounts due to the petitioner shall also be disbursed, without delay.