Statutory appeal rights remain open despite earlier writ non-interference on merits in income-tax assessment disputes.

A writ court's refusal to interfere with an assessment order on merits does not bar the assessee from raising all grounds otherwise available in a statutory appeal. The High Court noted that the scope of review under Article 226 is distinct from the scope of an income-tax appeal, and that appellate remedies must remain open to lawful statutory contentions. The review was treated as seeking clarification that the assessee's grounds before the appellate authority would not be curtailed. The assessee was permitted to urge all permissible contentions in the appeal under Section 246A of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner, while pursuing the statutory appeal against the assessment order, could be permitted to raise all contentions available in law, notwithstanding the earlier writ order declining to interfere on merits.

Analysis: The order under review recorded that the earlier writ order had declined to enter into the merits of the assessment order and the connected reassessment proceedings. The Court noted that the scope of interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is different from the scope of an appeal under the income-tax statute, and that a litigant availing the appellate remedy cannot be prevented from urging grounds that are otherwise permissible under the statute. The Court, therefore, treated the review as seeking clarification that the appellant's statutory grounds should remain open before the appellate authority.

Conclusion: The petitioner was permitted to raise all permissible contentions in the appeal under Section 246A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, while assailing the assessment order.

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