2025 (7) TMI 1959 - HC - Indian Laws

Writ petition challenging jurisdiction despite statutory appeal remedy; dismissal for 'appealable order' set aside, petition restored for joint hearing

The dominant issue was whether a writ petition could be dismissed for availability of a statutory appellate remedy when a jurisdictional challenge was ... Dismissal of petition on the ground that the order impugned in the writ petition is an appealable order and that the appellants should not bypass the appellate remedy - HELD THAT:- Since the learned Single Bench has assigned reasons as to why the writ petition should be entertained i.e. to decide the jurisdictional issue, we are of the view that the writ petition filed by the appellants herein should also be heard along with the said writ petition since the Court was prima facie satisfied that a jurisdictional point has to be considered and therefore admitted the writ petition. Sofar as the interim protection is concerned, there is no scope of passing any interim order in this appeal since during the pendency of the appeal, the authority viz., the Bureau of Investigation has passed an adjudication order as against which a statutory appeal was filed upon effecting pre-deposit of 10% of the disputed tax but however, the said appeal was dismissed by the appellate authority on the ground of limitation, which the appellant therein has challenged by filing a writ petition in W.P.O. 819 of 2024 and the same is also pending. Therefore, the said writ petition also should be heard along with W.P.A. 1092 of 2024. The order impugned is set aside and the writ petition is restored to the file of the learned Single Bench, to be heard along with W.P.O. 819 of 2024 - Appeal allowed. Intra-court appeal challenged dismissal of a writ petition on the ground that the impugned order was 'an appealable order' and the petitioners should not 'bypass the appellate remedy.' The appellants pointed to a pending writ petition raising an identical issue-jurisdiction of the Bureau of Investigation-in which the court had admitted the matter to decide the jurisdictional question and granted interim protection. Observing that the other matter had been admitted because 'a jurisdictional point has to be considered,' the court held the present writ petition should likewise be restored and heard together with the related writs. The court declined interim relief in the appeal because, during its pendency, an adjudication order had been passed; a statutory appeal (after 10% pre-deposit) was dismissed on limitation, and that dismissal is already under challenge in the pending writ. The order under appeal was set aside; the writ petition was restored and tagged with the other pending writ petitions so that, if the limitation dismissal is found untenable, the appellate authority may be directed to decide the statutory appeal on merits. The court clarified it had not examined merits and 'all points are left open.'