Writ jurisdiction over tax show cause notices is limited where statutory adjudication and appeals remain available.

A writ petition under Article 226 was held to be premature where it sought to quash excise show cause notices before the assessee had replied and before statutory adjudication and appeals were pursued. The Bombay HC reiterated that the excise framework operates as a complete code, so writ jurisdiction should not bypass the ordinary assessment and recovery process. Interference at the notice stage is confined to exceptional cases, such as a clear want of jurisdiction or a breach of fundamental justice, and no such ground was shown. The court also noted that the assessee had approached the writ court without first placing the relevant facts before the departmental authority, so the petition was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether a writ petition under Article 226 was maintainable to quash show cause notices issued in an excise matter before the assessee had responded to the notices and before the statutory adjudicatory and appellate remedies were invoked.

Analysis: The dispute arose out of exemptions granted by notifications under the excise and customs framework and the effect of an amending notification on the assessee's claim to exemption. The challenge, however, was directed at show cause notices issued in the course of assessment and recovery proceedings. The Court held that the Excise Act provided a complete code with adjudication and appeals, and that writ jurisdiction should not be used to short-circuit that statutory machinery. Interference at the notice stage was justified only in exceptional cases, such as a clear lack of jurisdiction or a breach of a fundamental principle of justice, neither of which was established. The Court also found that the assessee had come to the writ court too early, without first placing the relevant facts before the departmental authority.

Conclusion: The challenge to the show cause notices was premature and not maintainable in writ jurisdiction; the matter had to proceed through the statutory process, and the petition was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A writ petition to quash tax show cause notices will not lie where an effective statutory adjudicatory and appellate remedy exists, unless exceptional circumstances or a clear jurisdictional defect are shown.

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