Mohammad Safi Alam vs. Union Of INDIA And Ors.

Facts

The petitioner, Mohammad Safi Alam, filed a writ petition (WPA 29124 of 2023) before the High Court challenging an order or action related to GST. At the time of filing, the GST Appellate Tribunal was not operational. Subsequently, the GST Appellate Tribunal became functional. The petitioner has also filed a statutory appeal before this newly established Tribunal concerning the same subject matter as the writ petition. Due to the operational status of the Tribunal and the filing of the statutory appeal, the petitioner expressed no willingness to proceed with the instant writ application.

Held

The Court noted that the petitioner had filed the writ petition when the GST Appellate Tribunal was not in operation. However, the Tribunal is now functional, and the petitioner has filed a statutory appeal before it concerning the same matter that was the subject of the writ petition. Consequently, the petitioner expressed no desire to proceed with the writ application. In light of these circumstances, the Court dismissed the writ petition as withdrawn. The ratio decidendi is that a writ petition will be dismissed as withdrawn when the petitioner opts not to proceed due to the availability of a statutory remedy before a now-operational appellate tribunal, especially when such an appeal has already been filed.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition should be dismissed as withdrawn, given that the GST Appellate Tribunal is now operational and a statutory appeal has been filed before it concerning the same subject matter. The petitioner argued that since the GST Appellate Tribunal is now in existence and functioning, and a statutory appeal has already been filed before it, they are no longer willing to pursue the writ application. The revenue or State's contentions are not recorded in the judgment.