Writ jurisdiction cannot bypass a time-barred statutory appeal under VAT law; assessment challenge dismissed as not maintainable.

A writ petition challenging an assessment order was held not maintainable because the assessee had not filed the statutory appeal under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 within the prescribed time. The order was appealable within 30 days of receipt, with a further 30-day condonable period on sufficient cause, but that remedy was not pursued within the maximum limitation period. Applying the settled rule that Article 226 should not be used to bypass an available appellate remedy barred by limitation, the Court declined to examine the assessment on merits and dismissed the petition.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging the assessment order was maintainable when an efficacious statutory appeal under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 had not been filed within the permissible period of limitation.

Analysis: The assessment order was appealable under Section 51 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 within 30 days of receipt, with a further condonable period of 30 days on sufficient cause. The petitioner did not avail that statutory remedy within the maximum period and instead invoked Article 226 of the Constitution of India. In view of the settled principle that writ jurisdiction ought not to be used to bypass an unexhausted statutory appellate remedy barred by limitation, the Court declined to examine the merits of the assessment.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not maintainable and was dismissed.

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