Writ petition cannot be entertained when a statutory appeal

Writ petition cannot be entertained when a statutory appeal to the Appellate Tribunal is available.

Issue

Whether a taxpayer can invoke the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of the High Court to challenge an Order-in-Appeal when an efficacious alternate statutory remedy before the Appellate Tribunal remains available within an extended notification window.

Facts

The Challenge: The petitioner-taxpayer filed a writ petition before the Gauhati High Court challenging an ex-parte Order-in-Appeal dated March 17, 2025, passed by the first appellate authority.
The Remedy Bypassed: The petitioner approached the High Court seeking extraordinary writ relief directly, without first exhausting the statutory appeal remedy available before the GST Appellate Tribunal.
The Notification Extension: Under Notification S.O. 4220(E) dated September 17, 2025, the government extended the timeline to file appeals before the Appellate Tribunal up to June 30, 2026, for orders communicated on or before April 1, 2026.
The Timeline Alignment: The impugned Order-in-Appeal dated March 17, 2025, fell squarely within this notified window, meaning a valid statutory appeal route was still open to the petitioner.

Decision

Efficacious Remedy Exists: The court held that all the legal and factual grounds raised by the petitioner in the writ petition were completely open to be urged before the Appellate Tribunal.
Writ Not Entertained: The availability of a clear statutory appeal covering all the disputed grounds fully obviated the need to invoke the High Court’s extraordinary writ remedy.
Relegation to Alternate Forum: The court declined to entertain the writ petition and relegated the petitioner to the alternate forum, granting them explicit liberty to file their statutory appeal by the extended deadline of June 30, 2026.

Key Takeaways

Exhaustion of Alternate Remedies: High Courts will generally not exercise their discretionary writ jurisdiction under Article 226 if an efficacious, statutory appeal mechanism is actively available to the aggrieved taxpayer.
Binding Nature of Extension Notifications: Special administrative notifications extending appeal timelines due to structural issues (like the delayed non-constitution of benches) preserve the taxpayer’s right to appeal, thereby reinforcing the Tribunal as the correct forum for dispute resolution.
Merits Kept Open for Tribunal: When a High Court refuses to entertain a writ petition on the grounds of an alternate remedy, it does not reject the case on its merits; the taxpayer remains fully entitled to present all their arguments before the proper appellate body.

HIGH COURT OF GAUHATI

MS Jericho Chemicals LLP

Union of India^*

Manish Choudhury, J.

WP (C) No. 2342 of 2026

MAY 7, 2026

G.K. Deka, A M Baruah and P. Agarwal for the Petitioner. S. Kakati, Learned Central Government Counsel [CGC] and S.C. Keyal, Learned Senior Counsel for the Respondent.

ORDER

1. Heard Mr. P. Agarwal, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. S. Kakati, learned Central Government Counsel [CGC] for the respondent no. 1; and Mr. S.C. Keyal, learned Senior Counsel & Standing Counsel, CGST for the respondent nos. 2 & 3.

2. The instant writ petition is preferred to assail an Order-in-Appeal dated 17.03.2025 passed by the first appellate forum under Section 107, Central Goods & Services Act, 2017.

3. Mr. Keyal, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondent CGST authorities has submitted that against the Order-in-Appeal, an appeal would lie under Section 112, Central Goods and Services Tax [CGST] Act, 2017 to the Appellate Tribunal and the same is to be filed within three months from the date on which the order sought to be appealed against is communicated to the person preferring the appeal. He has further submitted that the Appellate Tribunal under Section 112 of the CGST Act has started functioning at Guwahati since 23^rd January, 2026.

4. As per Notification bearing no. S.O. 4220[E] dated 17.09.2025, which has been issued in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section [1] of Section 112, CGST] Act, an appeal can be preferred till 30.06.2026 in respect of a case where the Order sought to be appealed against the assessee is communicated to him on or before 01.04.2026.

5. The Order-in-Appeal in the instant case was passed on 17.03.2025 and as such, the period of limitation and the remedy to prefer an appeal under Section 112, CGST Act on or before 30.06.2026 are available to the petitioner.

6. The grounds urged in this writ petition are also available to be urged in an appeal preferred under Section 112, CGST Act. In such view of the matter, this writ petition is not entertained, reserving the liberty to the petitioner to prefer the appeal under Section 112, CGST Act before Appellate Tribunal on or before 30.06.2026.