SC on GST Refunds as Statutory Debt

This paper by J the app examines a stark instance of administrative failure in GST refund processing, where a refund formally shown as “sanctioned” on the GST portal was withheld for years on the basis of a rejection order that admittedly never existed. Affirming the Jharkhand High Court’s intervention, the Supreme Court declined to interfere with directions for grant of refund with statutory interest, while keeping the limited question of interest open. The decision reinforces that GST refunds are enforceable statutory rights, that rejection without a traceable and reasoned order is non-est in law, and that procedural opacity and unexplained delay on the part of the State will not be judicially condoned.