Statutory alternative remedy bars writ challenge to sales tax notice after provisional assessment order and merger of notice into that order.

Writ petitions challenging a sales tax notice were held not maintainable where a provisional assessment order had already been passed and the Act provided an appealable statutory remedy. The notice was treated as having lost independent force and merged into the earlier assessment order, so Article 226 was not to be used to bypass the appeal process. The merits of the assessment and notice were left unexamined because doing so could prejudice the appellant in the pending appeal proceedings.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitions challenging the notice under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 were maintainable after an order of provisional assessment had already been passed and an appealable alternative remedy was available.

Analysis: The notice was issued in relation to provisional assessment and proposed action under the sales tax provisions, but before the writ petitions were filed the assessing authority had already passed the order of provisional assessment. The order was appealable under the Act. In these circumstances, the notice lost its independent force and had merged in the earlier assessment order. The extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 was not meant to be used to bypass the statutory appeal and the Court declined to examine the merits of the assessment or the notice, particularly when doing so could prejudice the appellant in the appeal proceedings.

Conclusion: The writ petitions were not maintainable and were liable to be dismissed in view of the alternative statutory remedy and the prior provisional assessment order.

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