Northern East Water Tank Manufacturing Private Limited Vs Union of India & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court considered an appeal against an order of a Single Bench that had declined to entertain a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution on the ground that an alternative remedy was available under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The Single Bench had held that any order passed under the CGST Act could be challenged before the appellate authority under Section 107 of the Act and that the writ court should ordinarily be slow in exercising jurisdiction when an efficacious statutory remedy exists.
The Division Bench observed that the existence of an alternative statutory remedy does not create an absolute bar on the High Court’s jurisdiction under Article 226. The rule is one of discretion and not exclusion. It further noted that appellate courts should ordinarily be slow in interfering with discretionary orders refusing to entertain writ petitions unless such discretion has been exercised irrationally, unreasonably, or contrary to settled legal principles.
While initially not inclined to interfere with the Single Bench’s order, the Division Bench examined the reliefs sought in the writ petition and found that the petitioners had challenged the vires of paragraph 6 of Circular No. 31/05/2018-GST dated 09.02.2018, as amended by Circular No. 169/01/2022-GST dated 12.03.2022, on the ground that it was inconsistent with Sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act, 2017.
