Writ interference in tax assessment is limited where notice was given, facts are disputed, and an effective appeal remedy exists.

Assessment orders based on materials already put to notice were not interfered with under Article 226 where the dispute turned on contested facts about the number of crushers declared for compounding under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act. The Court noted that pre-assessment notices, Pollution Control Board records, inspection reports, electrical and KSEB information, and the assessee's own fixed asset schedule supported the assessing authority's view, and the assessee failed to show real prejudice from a ground later not pressed. The availability of an effective statutory appellate remedy also weighed against writ intervention, particularly where the alleged breach of natural justice did not displace the factual foundation of the assessment.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders were liable to be interfered with in writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India on the ground of alleged violation of natural justice and dispute regarding the number of crushers declared for compounding under Section 8(b) of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003.

Analysis: The challenge to the assessment rested on the factual assertion that only two crushers were installed, while the assessing authority proceeded on the basis of six machines from the pre-assessment notices, Pollution Control Board records, inspection reports, electrical and KSEB information, and the petitioner's own fixed asset schedule. The Court found that the petitioner's own materials and replies disclosed a deviation from the declaration made for compounding, and that the assessee had not shown any real prejudice merely because one ground referred to in the proposal was later not pressed. The availability of an effective appellate remedy also weighed against interference in writ jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The assessment orders were not liable to be interfered with under Article 226, and the writ petition was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: When assessment is supported by materials already put to notice and any omitted ground causes no prejudice, the existence of an effective statutory appeal bars interference in writ jurisdiction, especially in matters involving disputed factual questions.

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