Rubfila International Limited vs. The State Tax Officer
Facts
The petitioner, Rubfila International Limited, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Kerala challenging an action or order by the State Tax Officer, 3rd Circle, Palakkad. The specific tax period and the amount in dispute are not recorded in the judgment. The procedural history leading to the writ petition is also not detailed. The case came up for admission on April 10, 2019.
Held
The Court noted the statement made by the learned Government Pleader that the petitioner could avail a remedy now provided due to the change in law effected through the Kerala Finance Bill, 2019. Consequently, the Court held that the grievance in the instant writ petition need not be considered by the High Court. The reasoning is based on the availability of an alternative statutory remedy. The ratio decidendi is that when a subsequent change in law provides an effective alternative remedy, a writ petition challenging a prior action may be dismissed, granting liberty to pursue the new remedy. The operative direction was to dismiss the writ petition, granting the petitioner liberty to work out their remedies in accordance with law.
Key Issues
1. Whether the petitioner can avail a remedy in light of the change in law effected through the Kerala Finance Bill, 2019, rendering the present writ petition unnecessary? The petitioner's side argued that they should be allowed to work out their remedies in accordance with the law. The respondent (State Tax Officer and State of Kerala) contended that due to the change in law via the Kerala Finance Bill, 2019, the petitioner can now avail a statutory remedy, and the grievance in the writ petition need not be considered by the High Court. No specific provisions or precedents were cited by either side in the provided text.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.V.BHATTI WEDNE AY, THE 10TH DAY OF APRIL 2019 / 20TH CHAITHRA, 1941 PETITIONER: RUBFILA INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, NIDA,MENONPARA, KANJIKODE, PALAKKAD-678 621, REPRESENTED BY SHRI.SUDHEESH M,MANAGER (FINANCE AND LEGAL) BY ADVS. SRI.T.M.SREEDHARAN (SR.) SMT.DIVYA RAVINDRAN SMT.NISHA JOHN SRI.R.BHASKARA KRISHNAN SRI.V.P.NARAYANAN RESPONDENT/S: 1 THE STATE TAX OFFICER, 3RD CIRCLE,M SGST DEPARTMENT, PALAKKAD-678 001 2 THE STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, SGST DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAURAM-695 001 OTHER PRESENT: GP. SMT. M.M. JASMINE THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 10.04.2019, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: J U D G M E N T In view of the change in law effected through Kerala Finance Bill 2019, the learned Government Pleader states that the petitioner can avail the remedy now provided and the grievance in the instant case need not be considered by this Court.
Statement is placed on record. The writ petition is dismissed by granting the liberty, to work out
The judgment continues below.
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Reproduced from the public record of the Kerala High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.