Sharma Construction Company Through Its Proprietor Shri Piyush Sharma vs. Union Of INDIA

Held

The Court held that the order under challenge is appealable under Section 107 of the GST Act. The Court found no reason to bypass the statutory remedy of appeal. The Court reasoned that the existence of an inter se dispute between the petitioner and other respondents does not preclude the appellate authority from considering such disputes. Therefore, the Court concluded that no case was made out for bypassing the statutory remedy. The petition was dismissed, granting liberty to the petitioner to avail the statutory remedy of appeal. The Court clarified that this liberty does not imply condonation of delay, and if the appeal is time-barred, the petitioner must seek condonation of delay.

Facts

The petitioner, Sharma Construction Company, filed a writ petition challenging an order dated April 1, 2026, passed by the State Tax Officer, State GST. This order imposed GST on royalty paid for mining and Krishi. The petitioner argued that the petition was filed due to an inter se dispute between the petitioner and respondents No. 4 to 6. The respondent was the Union of India and others. The tax period is not specified. The amount in dispute is not stated.

Key Issues

1. Whether the High Court should entertain a writ petition when an alternative statutory remedy of appeal is available under the GST Act? (Question of law) Petitioner's contention: The petitioner argued that the writ petition was filed due to an inter se dispute between the petitioner and respondents No. 4 to 6, implying this dispute warranted High Court intervention. Revenue's contention: The Revenue did not explicitly argue on the merits of the GST imposition but implicitly supported the statutory appeal route by not opposing the dismissal on that ground. The judgment does not record any specific arguments from the Revenue regarding the GST imposition itself.