Statutory appeal requirement under GST assessment orders barred writ challenge to Section 74 demands.

Writ petitions challenging assessment orders passed under Section 74 of the CGST Act were held not maintainable where the petitioner had not first pursued the statutory appeal under Section 107. The Court noted that the impugned orders arose from assessment proceedings and that the petitioner had been given an opportunity to pay tax, interest and part of the penalty within the stipulated time, which was not exercised. As the proper remedy was a statutory appeal, writ jurisdiction was not invoked against the Section 74 orders. The petitions were dismissed, with liberty to file appeals within the time granted by the Court.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitions challenging orders passed under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 were maintainable when the petitioner had not availed the statutory appeal under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Analysis: The impugned orders arose from assessment proceedings and the petitioner had been given an option to pay tax, interest and part of the penalty within the stipulated time, which was not exercised. The Court noted that the proper course was to challenge the assessment orders in statutory appeal under Section 107, and found no merit in invoking writ jurisdiction against the Section 74 orders.

Conclusion: The challenge to the orders under Section 74 was rejected and the writ petitions were dismissed, with liberty to file statutory appeals within the time granted by the Court.

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