Writ jurisdiction and GST input tax credit disputes: factual challenges and legal errors must be pursued through rectification or statutory remedies.

Writ interference under Article 226 was declined against a GST assessment order where the dispute concerned whether eligible input tax credit had been wrongly denied on the basis of invoices and whether suppliers had discharged tax. The Court held that it would not undertake a factual inquiry in writ jurisdiction on such matters and that any apparent mistake affecting eligible credit could be pursued by rectification under Section 161, while any challenge that the order was incorrect in law had to be taken through the statutory remedies.

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Issues: Whether interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India was warranted against an assessment order issued under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and whether the petitioner should be relegated to rectification or statutory remedies.

Analysis: The grievance raised was that eligible input tax credit allegedly supported by invoices had not been given credit while finalising the proceedings. The Court found that, in the circumstances of the dispute, it could not undertake a factual examination as to whether the tax had in fact been discharged by the suppliers or whether credit had been wrongly denied. It also held that, if the order contained a mistake affecting eligible credit, the petitioner could seek rectification under Section 161 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and if the order was said to be incorrect in law, the statutory remedies had to be pursued.

Conclusion: Interference in writ jurisdiction was declined and the challenge to the order failed.

Final Conclusion: The petition was not entertained on merits in writ jurisdiction, and the petitioner was left to pursue rectification or other statutory remedies as available in law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a disputed tax-credit issue under the GST law turns on factual determination or alleged legal error, writ jurisdiction will ordinarily not be invoked when rectification and statutory remedies are available.

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