ORDER 1. Special leave granted 2. In this case the original application for refund was filed beyond six months of the date of payment. It was accordingly rejected. The respondent filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court which was allowed holding that the rule of six months does not apply since it is a case of illegal collection of levy. The Division Bench affirmed the said order. 3. It is obvious that in the light of the judgment of this Court in Mafatlal Industries Ltd. v. Union of India [ (1997) 5 SCC 536 : (1996) 9 Scale 457 ] the judgment of the High Court is liable to be set aside. The judgments of the learned Single Judge as well as the Division Bench of the High Court are set aside. The appeal is allowed accordingly. No costs.