Court dismisses writ appeals challenging assessment orders for 2001-02 & 2002-03. Alternative appeal remedy available.

The court dismissed the writ appeals challenging the orders of assessment for the assessment years 2001-02 and 2002-03, citing the availability of an alternative appeal remedy and the need for investigation into facts. The court held that the mere possibility of the appellate authority following the assessing authority's decision was not a sufficient ground to invoke jurisdiction under article 226 of the Constitution of India. Additionally, the court modified the order for payment of interest by deleting the direction to pay 50% of the interest, subject to the outcome of the appeal.

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Issues involved: Challenge to orders of assessment for assessment years 2001-02 and 2002-03, availability of alternative remedy, jurisdictional error correction under article 226 of the Constitution of India, invocation of writ jurisdiction under article 226, modification of order for payment of interest.

Challenge to orders of assessment: The writ appeals were filed against the order of the learned single judge in W.P. Nos. 7676 and 7677 of 2006, challenging the orders of assessment for the assessment years 2001-02 and 2002-03 respectively. The appellant contended that the proceedings taken were without jurisdiction and sought correction under article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Availability of alternative remedy: The appellant argued that although an effective alternative remedy by way of an appeal was available, the appellate authority was likely to follow the judgment relied on by the assessing authority, which would be detrimental to the appellant's case. The appellant claimed that their case was directly covered by decisions of the High Court and the Supreme Court, and did not require investigation of complicated facts.

Jurisdictional error correction under article 226: The court disagreed with the appellant's contention, stating that the claim of the assessee required investigation into facts and that the availability of an appeal remedy was effective and efficacious. The court held that the mere possibility of the appellate authority following the decision relied on by the assessing authority was not a ground for invoking jurisdiction under article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Invocation of writ jurisdiction under article 226: Referring to a Division Bench decision, the court emphasized that when there is an alternative remedy available, writ jurisdiction under article 226 of the Constitution of India should not be invoked. The court noted that this principle applied with greater force to the proceedings in question.

Modification of order for payment of interest: The appellant sought modification of the order to waive the payment of interest at 50 per cent, citing financial difficulty and having already paid a sum of Rs. 1 crore. The court modified the order by deleting the direction to pay 50 per cent of the interest payable, subject to the result in the appeal preferred by the petitioner.

In conclusion, the court dismissed the writ appeals, ordered the modification of the interest payment directive, and closed the related petitions.

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