In Brief
The State of Madhya Pradesh challenged a High Court order that set aside a tax assessment denying input rebate and granted it to the assessee. The High Court had entertained a writ petition despite a statutory appeal remedy being available under the tax law. The Supreme Court held that writ jurisdiction under Article 226 should not be invoked to bypass available statutory remedies in tax matters. The fact that only legal questions were involved did not justify bypassing the statutory appeal process. The Court allowed the appeal, quashed the High Court judgment, and directed the assessee to pursue the statutory appeal within four weeks, with the merits to be decided by the appellate authority.
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