Statutory appellate remedy prevails when tax disputes involve mixed questions of fact and law requiring evidentiary scrutiny.

Where the Puducherry Value Added Tax Act, 2007 provides an appellate hierarchy under Sections 47, 49 and 51, writ jurisdiction under Article 226 should not be used to bypass the statutory remedy, especially where the dispute involves mixed questions of fact and law requiring examination of documents and evidence. The High Court reiterated that judicial review is confined to the legality of the decision-making process and does not permit a trial of disputed facts at the first instance. The assessment challenge was therefore left to be pursued before the appellate forum, and the writ proceedings were disposed of without adjudication on the merits.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitions challenging the assessment and first appellate orders were maintainable without exhausting the statutory appellate remedy under the Puducherry Value Added Tax Act, 2007, and whether disputed questions involving facts and law could be examined in writ jurisdiction.

Analysis: The statutory scheme provided a hierarchy of remedies under Sections 47, 49 and 51 of the Puducherry Value Added Tax Act, 2007. The issues raised turned on disputed facts as well as legal contentions, requiring examination of documents and evidence before the appellate authorities. The scope of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution of India was held to be confined to scrutinising the decision-making process and not to conducting a trial or adjudicating disputed facts in the first instance. The Court also emphasised that the appellate mechanism is the proper forum to examine merits, including jurisdictional objections and other grounds arising from the assessment proceedings.

Conclusion: The writ petitions were not to be entertained at this stage, and the petitioners were required to avail the statutory appeal remedy first.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the assessment orders was left to be pursued before the appellate forum under the Act, and the writ proceedings were disposed of without adjudication on the merits of the tax dispute.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute provides an efficacious appellate remedy and the dispute involves mixed questions of fact and law requiring evidentiary scrutiny, writ jurisdiction should not be invoked to bypass the statutory appellate process.

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