GST recovery and refund claims must follow the statutory appeal route when appellate proceedings are already pending.

Under the GST recovery machinery, a writ petition seeking immediate refund of amounts recovered from an adjudged demand was held premature where the assessee had already filed a belated statutory appeal with a condonation application. The statutory scheme permits recovery of dues and provides the appellate route for relief, including refund consequences if the appeal succeeds. Because the appellate process was already invoked, resort to writ jurisdiction for refund was inconsistent with the framework. The writ petition was therefore not maintainable, and the refund claim was rejected.

---

---

Issues: Whether the petitioner could maintain a writ petition seeking refund of amounts recovered under the GST recovery machinery while the statutory appeal and condonation application were pending.

Analysis: The assessment order had been passed under the GST regime and the petitioner had preferred an appeal belatedly, along with an application for condonation of delay. Pending those proceedings, the authorities recovered the amount in accordance with the recovery provisions after the stipulated period. The statutory scheme under the GST provisions permits recovery of the adjudged demand and also provides the appellate framework for seeking appropriate relief, including refund consequences if the appeal succeeds. In that background, the request for immediate refund in writ jurisdiction was found to be inconsistent with the statutory mechanism and premature.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not maintainable and the claim for refund was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute authorises recovery of the adjudged dues and an appellate remedy is already invoked, a writ petition seeking refund of the recovered amount is misconceived and relief must be pursued in the appellate proceedings if the appeal succeeds.

---