Efficacious statutory appeal bars writ challenge to tax revision orders, with natural justice claims left for appellate review.

Where a statute provides an efficacious statutory appeal against revision orders under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, writ jurisdiction under Article 226 should ordinarily not be invoked. The appellate authority can examine all legal grounds, including alleged breach of natural justice and non-furnishing of documents, so those objections must generally be raised before that forum unless exceptional circumstances are shown. On that basis, the writ petitions challenging the revision orders were held not maintainable and were dismissed, leaving the petitioner to pursue the statutory appeal remedy.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitions challenging the revision orders under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act were maintainable when an appeal remedy was available under the statute.

Analysis: The revision orders were passed under Section 27 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax, 2006, and the statute provided a statutory appeal under Section 51. The availability of an efficacious appellate remedy meant that the writ jurisdiction under Article 226 should not ordinarily be invoked. The Court reiterated that the appellate authority is competent to examine all legal grounds, including alleged violation of natural justice and non-furnishing of documents, and that constitutional courts should not treat the appeal provision as a formality except in exceptional cases.

Conclusion: The writ petitions were not maintainable and were dismissed, leaving the petitioner free to pursue the statutory appeal remedy.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the assessment revision orders failed at the threshold because the statutory appellate mechanism was required to be exhausted before invoking writ jurisdiction.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute provides an efficacious appeal against an assessment or revision order, writ jurisdiction should ordinarily not be exercised, and allegations including breach of natural justice are to be agitated before the appellate forum unless exceptional circumstances are shown.

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