The Supreme Court held that extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot be invoked where assessee has alternate remedies available and he was not diligent in availing such alternate remedies within the stipulated time.
M/s. Vishwanath Traders was aggrieved by the Assessment order dated March 12, 2022 passed by the Revenue Department filed an appeal before the Appellant Authority.
The Appellate Authority dismissed the appeal and stated that as per Section 107 of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 an appeal can be filed within three months from the date of which the said decision or order is communicated to such person. Moreover, after taking into account the saving of limitation granted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No. 3 of 2020. The Petitioner would have filed an appeal on or before May 29, 2022. However, the Petitioner filed appeal on August 08, 2022 with a delay of two months nineteen days from the date on which even the limitation period as stipulated by the Supreme Court, expired.
Aggrieved by the Appellate Order the Petitioner filed writ before the Hon’ble Patna High Court, The High Court dismissed the writ by stating that they do not find any reason to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, especially when the Petitioner had alternate remedies available and the Petitioner was not diligent in availing such alternate remedies within the stipulated time.
The court upheld the order of the Patna High Court and rejected the SLP and stated that the Petitioner delayed in approaching the Appellate Authority therefore, the High Court was justified in dismissing the writ Petition.
Case Title: M/s. Vishwanath Traders v. Union of India & Ors.