Civil suit for tax refund barred where sales tax statute provided complete statutory remedy and ousted jurisdiction.

A refund claim for tax paid on works-contract turnover under an allegedly ultra vires levy was held to fall within section 72 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, but the civil suit was still barred because the taxing statute provided a complete remedial machinery. The Madras General Sales Tax Act, including revision to the High Court under section 12-B, was treated as the exclusive route for testing the levy's validity, and section 18-A ousted civil court jurisdiction over a refund claim that necessarily involved setting aside the assessment. The argument that an ultra vires levy made the assessment a nullity was rejected.

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Issues: Whether tax paid on works-contract turnover under an ultra vires levy was recoverable in a civil suit under section 72 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and whether section 18-A of the Madras General Sales Tax Act barred the civil court's jurisdiction to grant refund.

Analysis: The claim for refund based on mistake of law was within the scope of section 72 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, but the decisive question was whether the civil suit could be maintained at all. The Madras General Sales Tax Act provided a complete statutory machinery, including revision to the High Court under section 12-B, by which the validity of the levy could have been examined. Applying the principle that where a taxing statute creates a complete remedial scheme and expressly ousts civil jurisdiction, a suit for refund necessarily involving setting aside the assessment is barred, section 18-A operated to exclude the civil court from entertaining the claim. The contention that an ultra vires levy rendered the assessment a nullity was rejected.

Conclusion: The suit for refund was barred by section 18-A of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, and the appeal failed.

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