Frontier Agrotech Private Limited Vs Joint Commissioner of State Tax (Patna High Court)
Patna High Court held that invocation of extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India unjustified as lack of jurisdiction and the absence of compliance with principles of natural justice have been merely raised but not substantiated.
Facts- The petitioner engaged in the distribution of pesticides, insecticides and other similar items is before this Court challenging the assessment orders passed for the years 2018-2019 to 2022-2023 and for the period April, 2023 to July, 2023. Notably, the petitioner invokes the remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution of India despite the availability of statutory remedy of appeal.
Conclusion- Held that the lack of jurisdiction and the absence of compliance with principles of natural justice have been merely raised but not substantiated. Basically, the petitioner challenges the order of assessment on multifarious reasons which have been extracted in a table given to us across the Bar which again speaks of reduced output liability on credit notes, mismatch of outward supplies in GSTR-1 vis-a-vis e-way bill, excess ITC utilization, penalty for failure to furnish consumption details of fertilizers and so on and so forth. Thus, we find no reason to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 to interfere with the assessment orders passed at this stage.
