Constitution Of India, 1950

--WritMaintainability Existence of alternative remedy--The question arose for consideration and decision was whether the High Court was justified in interfering with the order passed by the assessing authority under section 148 in exercise of its jurisdiction under article 226 when an equally efficacious alternate remedy was available to the assessee. Held: The Act provides complete machinery for the assessment/reassessment of tax, imposition of penalty and for obtaining relief in respect of any improper orders passed by the Revenue authorities, and the assessee could not be permitted to abandon that machinery and to invoke the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 when he had adequate remedy open to him by way of an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals). In the present case, neither had the assessee-writ petitioner described the available alternate remedy under the Act as ineffectual and non-efficacious while invoking the writ jurisdiction of the High Court nor had the High Court ascribed cogent and satisfactory reasons to have exercised its jurisdiction in the facts of instant case. Therefore, the Writ Court ought not to have entertained the writ petition filed by the assessee, wherein he has only questioned the correctness or otherwise of the notices issued under section 148, the reassessment orders passed and the consequential demand notices issued thereon.

Constitution of India, 1950 Article 226

Income Tax Act, 1961 Section 148

In the Supreme Court of India

H. L. Dattu & M.Y. Eqbal, J.J.

CIT & Ors. v. Chhabil Dass Agarwal

Civil Appeal No. 6704 of 2013 (From the judgment and order dated 5-10-2010 of the Sikkim High Court in Writ Petn. No. 44 of 2009)

A.Y. 1995-96 & 1996-97

8 August, 2013

Decision: Against the assessee.

Revenue by : Gaurab Banerjee with Sahil Tagotra & Rahul Kaushik for B.V. Balaram Das

Assessee by : S. Ganesh & Venkataramani with Anshuman Sinha, Vijay Kumar, Neelam Singh Shodhan Babu, Ajay Vikram Singh, Priyanka, Hemant Mour for Naresh Kumar, Aruna Mathur, Yusuf & Movita