Narayan Traders Vs Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (Orissa High Court)
Orissa High Court held that filing of writ petition challenging adjudication order under section 73 of the GST Act after inordinate delay of around one year with adequate reasoning for inordinate delay cannot be entertained. Accordingly, writ petition is dismissed.
Facts- The petitioner is registered under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Odisha Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, challenged the order dated 22nd October, 2024 passed under Section 73 of the GST Act pertaining to the tax periods from April, 2020 to March, 2021 by the Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Nabarangpur Circle in the present writ petition invoking provisions of Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India beseeching to exercise the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court.
Conclusion- Held that legal perspective of exercise of power under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India to entertain writ petition vis-à-vis limitation provided under the statute, examining the fact of the present case, there is no scintilla of scope to maintain the writ petition inasmuch as no cause has been shown to approach this Court by-passing the remedy available under the GST Act. The impugned order under Section 73 of the GST Act being passed on 22ndOctober, 2024 and the writ petition being filed on 23rd October, 2025, there has been inordinate delay of around one year. The petitioner has not explained reason for the inordinate delay that prevented it to approach this Court by way of pleading in the writ petition. It is manifest on perusal of record that only to circumvent the alternative remedy available under the statute and thwarting conditions hedged for filing an appeal, the petitioner has approached this Court by way of filing the present writ petition challenging the adjudication order.
