Petition Dismissed: Court Emphasizes Appeal Route Over Direct Legal Challenge; Petitioners Granted Four Weeks to Appeal.

The court dismissed the petition challenging the show cause cum demand notice and Order-in-Original, emphasizing the availability of an alternative efficacious remedy of appeal. The court found the petitioners' claims for bypassing this remedy vague and unsupported. It allowed the petitioners to file an appeal within four weeks, directing the Appellate Authority to consider the appeal on its merits. All contentions raised in the petition were left open for the Appellate Authority's decision. The petition was dismissed with liberty to pursue alternative remedies, and no costs were imposed.

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Issues:
Challenge to show cause cum demand notice and Order-in-Original, Alternative remedy of appeal available, Bypassing rule of exhaustion of alternative remedies, Comparison with Gujarat High Court decision, Precedents on bypassing alternative remedies.

Analysis:
The petition challenged a show cause cum demand notice and an Order-in-Original. The court noted that the petitioners had an alternative efficacious remedy of appeal available to challenge the Order-in-Original, which merged the show cause notice. The petitioners claimed that approaching the court directly was necessary due to jurisdictional and other grounds. However, the court found the averments vague and held that the petition should not be entertained when alternative remedies were available.

The petitioners relied on a Gujarat High Court decision where the court interfered with a show cause notice in similar circumstances. The court acknowledged this but emphasized that there were no pleadings or reasons in the present petition to bypass the rule of exhaustion of alternative remedies. The court referred to a recent judgment where it was held that unless good grounds were established, alternative remedies should not be bypassed based on vague allegations of lack of jurisdiction or impropriety.

Ultimately, the court declined to entertain the petition, citing the reasoning from the previous judgment. However, it allowed the petitioners to avail themselves of the alternative remedies under the Act by filing an appeal against the impugned order within four weeks. The court directed the Appellate Authority to consider the appeal on its merits. All contentions, including those raised in the petition, were left open to be decided by the Appellate Authority. The petition was dismissed with liberty in the specified terms, and no costs were ordered.

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