Nearly three decades after he paid his dues, Hari Chand, a resident of Patiala, is finally set to get his full income tax refund after the Punjab and Haryana High Court passed its orders on Monday.

Sadly, Chand is no longer alive to receive the amount he died five years ago.

In a detailed judgment, a Division Bench of the High Court has directed the Patiala Income Tax Commissioner to return the refund with interest, which compounded annually sums up to roughly Rs 1.75 crore. The amount will be paid by the I-T Commissioner to Hari Chands son.

The dispute started in 1979 when Chands company, M/s Roadmaster Industries of India Private Limited, Patiala, paid Rs 1,47,000 as advance tax for the assessment year 1978-79 and filed its return declaring a loss of Rs 3,77,096. An amount of Rs 61,000 was to be refunded by the Income Tax department to the company but despite repeated representations, the refund was paid after a delay of seven years.