Writ relief unavailable for fact-heavy assessment disputes where a statutory appellate remedy exists.

Writ jurisdiction is not appropriate to challenge assessment orders where the dispute turns on mixed and disputed factual questions, including royalty on minerals, purchase tax, differential tax on export-related turnover, and inclusion of packing and forwarding charges. Because the assessment orders were passed within the authority's jurisdiction and the sales tax statute provided a complete appellate mechanism, the party was required to pursue the statutory appeal rather than bypass that remedy through writ petitions. The operative principle is that an efficacious statutory appellate forum excludes extraordinary writ relief in such fact-intensive assessment disputes.

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Issues: Whether writ petitions challenging assessment orders raising disputed questions of fact were maintainable in view of the statutory appellate remedy.

Analysis: The assessment disputes concerned the nature of royalty paid for minerals, the applicability of purchase tax, the levy of differential tax on export-related turnover, and inclusion of packing and forwarding charges in taxable turnover. These were factual and mixed questions that could be examined by the appellate authority under the sales tax statute. The assessment orders were passed by an authority competent to do so, and the statute provided a complete machinery of appeal and further appeal. The extraordinary writ remedy was therefore not appropriate for bypassing the appellate forum.

Conclusion: The writ petitions were not maintainable and had to be pursued, if at all, in the statutory appellate forum.

Final Conclusion: The Court declined to interfere with the assessment orders and left the petitioner to work out the remedy of appeal under the statute.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessment order is within the authority's jurisdiction and the controversy turns on disputed factual issues, writ jurisdiction should not be invoked when an efficacious statutory appeal is available.

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