An efficacious statutory appellate remedy under the Finance Act,...

An efficacious statutory appellate remedy under the Finance Act, 1994 may preclude writ review of a service-tax adjudication order where no jurisdictional error is shown. The note states that the petitioner had not timely replied to the show-cause notice and filed a reply only after adjudication; the writ petition was therefore not examined on merits and the petitioner was relegated to the statutory appeal. It further records that time spent bona fide pursuing a writ petition, instituted within the appeal limitation period, may be excluded when computing limitation for the appeal. The petitioner was permitted to file the appeal within 30 days, with interim protection temporarily continued.