Writ jurisdiction and disputed GST facts: High Court declines interference where an effective statutory appeal exists.

Where GST search, inspection, stock discrepancy and penalty proceedings turn on disputed facts, the High Court should ordinarily decline writ interference under Article 226 when an effective statutory appeal is available. The challenge to the search authorization, inspection process, stock records and quantification required factual adjudication by the competent authority, not writ determination. Applying the rule of exhaustion of statutory remedies, the Court held that the petitioner should pursue the appellate remedy rather than invoke writ jurisdiction. The writ petition was therefore not entertained and the petitioner was relegated to the statutory appeal.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition should be entertained when disputed questions of fact arise from the authorization, search, inspection, and stock discrepancy assessment under the GST regime, and when an effective statutory appellate remedy is available.

Analysis: The challenge centered on the validity of the authorization for search and the consequential action taken under the GST enactment, including the alleged stock discrepancy and penalty/fine order. The issues depended on contested factual matters, including the manner of authorization, inspection, maintenance of stock records, and the correctness of the quantification. The availability of an appeal under the statutory scheme provided an efficacious alternate remedy. In such circumstances, the rule of exhaustion of statutory remedies applies, and writ jurisdiction is not ordinarily to be invoked for adjudication of disputed facts that can be examined by the competent authority.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not entertained and the petitioner was relegated to the statutory appellate remedy.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an effective statutory remedy is available, especially in matters involving disputed questions of fact, the High Court should ordinarily refrain from exercising writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

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