Statutory appeal remedy bars writ challenge to an appealable GST order, with limited interim protection granted.

An appealable GST order under Section 129 of the Kerala State GST Act should ordinarily be challenged through the statutory appeal remedy, and writ jurisdiction under Article 226 is not to be invoked where that effective remedy is available and no special circumstance is shown. The High Court therefore declined to examine the merits, dismissed the writ petition, and left the petitioner free to pursue the appeal. It also preserved the petitioner's contentions against the order and granted limited interim protection against encashment of the bank guarantee to enable filing of the appeal.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging an appealable order under Section 129 of the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 was maintainable in view of the available statutory appeal remedy.

Analysis: The impugned order was appealable, and the petitioner was directed to work out the statutory remedy of appeal. The Court declined to express any view on the merits and found no circumstance warranting interference in writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. While dismissing the writ petition, the Court preserved the petitioner's contentions against the order and granted interim protection against encashment of the bank guarantee for a limited period to enable pursuit of the appeal remedy.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not entertained and was dismissed, with liberty to pursue the statutory appeal and interim protection for a limited period.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an effective statutory appeal is available against an appealable GST order, writ jurisdiction under Article 226 is ordinarily not to be invoked in the absence of special circumstances.

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