Statutory appeal remedy prevails where service tax and jurisdiction issues can be examined in appeal, with reduced pre-deposit requirements.

Availability of a statutory appeal barred writ interference where the challenge to service tax levy, jurisdiction, and limitation could be examined in the appellate forum, particularly because the issues were intertwined with factual questions arising from the contract. The amended law was noted to have reduced the pre-deposit requirement for maintaining the appeal, reinforcing the adequacy of the statutory remedy. The intra-court appeal was therefore not entertained, and the party was relegated to the statutory appellate process.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition could be entertained despite the availability of a statutory appeal, and whether the challenge to service tax levy and the pre-deposit requirement justified interference in writ jurisdiction.

Analysis: The availability of a statutory appeal was undisputed. The challenge to the levy of service tax and the objections based on jurisdiction and limitation were held to be matters capable of being examined in the statutory appeal, especially where the issues were interlinked with factual questions arising from the contract. The amended law was also noted to have reduced the pre-deposit requirement for maintaining such an appeal.

Conclusion: The Court declined to entertain the intra-court appeal and upheld relegation of the matter to the statutory appellate remedy.

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