Statutory tax remedies must be exhausted before writ relief can challenge sales tax assessments in revenue matters.

A writ challenge to sales tax assessments was held inappropriate where the Kerala General Sales Tax Act and the Central Sales Tax Act provided an effective statutory hierarchy of appeal, second appeal, and revision. The grounds of lack of authority of law, double taxation, and infringement of fundamental rights were treated as matters that could be raised before the statutory forums. In revenue matters, where the statute itself creates the liability and the challenge mechanism, the assessee must ordinarily exhaust the prescribed remedies and cannot bypass them through writ jurisdiction. No exceptional circumstance was shown to justify departure from that rule, so the assessment challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging sales tax assessments was maintainable when the petitioner had an effective statutory appellate and revisional remedy under the sales tax law.

Analysis: The assessment orders related to sales tax liability under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act and the Central Sales Tax Act. The petitioner invoked writ jurisdiction on the ground of lack of authority of law, double taxation, and infringement of fundamental rights. The Court held that the grounds urged could be raised before the statutory authorities and that the Act provided a complete hierarchy of remedies by appeal, second appeal, and revision. In revenue matters, where the statute creates both the liability and the machinery for challenge, the statutory remedy must ordinarily be pursued and the writ court should not be used to bypass that procedure. The earlier authorities relied on by the petitioner were distinguished on the basis that, on the facts here, no exceptional circumstance justified departure from the normal rule.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not maintainable in view of the available alternative statutory remedies, and the challenge to the assessment orders failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing statute provides a complete and efficacious appellate and revisional machinery for challenging an assessment, the High Court will ordinarily decline writ relief and require the assessee to exhaust the statutory remedies.

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