Challenge to Appellate Authority orders under GST: alternative remedy before GST Appellate Tribunal leads to refusal to entertain writs

Challenge to Appellate Authority orders under GST was declined on the basis that a statutory alternative remedy exists in the form of the newly established GST Appellate Tribunal covering the State, with personnel allocated to the Guwahati Bench; therefore the High Court applied the doctrine of alternative remedy and judicial restraint and refused to entertain writ petitions. As a consequence, the writ petitions were not admitted and stand disposed of to permit aggrieved parties to approach the GST Appellate Tribunal instead.

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Issues: Whether the High Court should entertain writ petitions challenging orders of the Appellate Authority under the CGST Act, 2017 when the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) for the relevant territorial jurisdiction has become functional and offers an alternative statutory appellate remedy.

Analysis: The petitions seek judicial review of orders passed by the Appellate Authority under the CGST Act, 2017. At the time earlier applications were entertained the GST Appellate Tribunal had not been constituted for the region; subsequently a notification and office order record establishment and staffing of the GST Appellate Tribunal, Guwahati (Agartala Circuit/Bench), and the Tribunal is represented as functional from 21.01.2026. Given the existence of a specialized statutory appellate forum under Sections 109 and 112 of the CGST Act, 2017, the Court exercised its discretion not to proceed with the writ petitions and instead granted the petitioners liberty to approach the GST Appellate Tribunal.

Conclusion: The writ petitions are not entertained by the High Court; petitioners granted liberty to approach the GST Appellate Tribunal, Agartala Bench. This conclusion is against the assessee.

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