M/S.Sheranwali Infrastructure PVT LTD vs. Union Of INDIA

Held

The High Court held that the writ petition was not the appropriate forum for challenging the assessment order, as the petitioner possessed an alternative remedy of appeal before the appellate authority. Consequently, the writ petition was disposed of with a direction. The petitioner was permitted to file an appeal before the appellate authority within four weeks from the date of the order, along with an application for condonation of delay. The appellate authority was directed to consider all contentions raised by the petitioner and to take into account the period during which the writ petition was pending (from 26.04.2019 till 17.07.2019) as a factor in deciding the condonation of delay, acknowledging the petitioner's bona fide mistake in approaching the wrong forum. The original documents filed by the petitioner were to be returned after substituting them with attested photocopies.

Facts

The petitioner filed a writ petition before the High Court challenging an assessment order dated 31.12.2018, passed by the Commissioner, GST and Central Excise, Rourkela. The petitioner sought to challenge this order through the writ jurisdiction of the High Court. The court noted that the petitioner had an alternative remedy of appeal before the designated appellate authority. The writ petition was filed on 26.04.2019 and heard on 17.07.2019.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition is maintainable before the High Court when an alternative remedy of appeal is available to the petitioner under the GST Act? The petitioner's contention, implied by filing the writ petition, was that the assessment order was flawed and required immediate High Court intervention. The revenue's position, implicitly, would be that the statutory appellate mechanism should be exhausted first. The court did not explicitly record arguments from either side but proceeded to address the maintainability of the writ petition in light of the alternative remedy.