TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1990 (4) TMI 267
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....section was introduced into the Act with effect from July 1, 1985, as a sequel to the Constitution (Forty-sixth) Amendment Act. The respondent-Commercial Tax Officer held on a consideration of the terms of the contract between the petitioner and the ONGC that the drilling rigs were hired by ONGC for the purpose of exploration of oil wells and the rigs are practically at the disposal of the ONGC for their use wherever and whenever they want and the contractor has just to keep the rigs operational by their technical personnel as per the requirements and instructions of the ONGC. The writ petitions were filed at a stage when the assessments were made and demands raised. The reasons for not filing the appeals and for invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under article 226 of the Constitution have been stated in the writ petition thus: "Though usually thirty days time is given, in the instant case, only 15 days time is given. The petitioner apprehends that coercive steps will be taken to recover the tax. They reliably understand that the assessments have been made after consultation with and according to the instructions of authorities superior to the assessing authority. The appellat....
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....y, the company's obligation under the terms of the contract being to drill and complete 3 Nos. exploratory wells at the locations specified by the ONGC. The learned counsel further submitted that the writ petitions having been admitted and pending on the file of this Court for over a year, it is just and proper to decide the issue without insisting upon the availment of alternative remedy of appeal before the Tribunal especially because the principles governing the application of section 5-E have been fairly well-settled by now. The learned Government Pleader supported the conclusion of the assessing and appellate authorities by referring to the clauses in the agreement and also submitted that an effective alternative remedy being available to the petitioner under the statute, this Court ought not to adjudicate upon the factual and legal questions in the writ proceedings under article 226 of the Constitution. He relied upon the judgment of the Supreme Court in Titaghur Paper Mills Co. Ltd. v. State of Orissa [1983] 53 STC 315; AIR 1983 SC 603 and Assistant Collector of Central Excise v. Dunlop India Ltd. [1985] 154 ITR 172 (SC); AIR 1985 SC 330. In Titaghur Paper Mills' case [19....
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....he affidavit filed in support of the amendment petition, a complaint has been made by the petitioner that the Appellate Deputy Commissioner did not look into the accounts although filed before him by the petitioner's chartered accountants. In the face of the adequate alternative remedy available, we do not therefore, feel it appropriate to take upon ourselves the task of adjudication on merits. We do not think that there are any exceptional circumstances to allow the petitioner to bypass the normal statutory remedies under the Act and to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under article 226. It is true that the writ petitions have been admitted and pending for about a year and it is no doubt one of the circumstances that could be kept in view. However, as against this consideration, the subsequent events should also be home in mind. As already stated, during the pendency of the writ petition, the petitioner filed appeals and the appellate authority passed orders recently. The disposal of these appeals have paved the way for further determination by an independent body, viz., the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, presided over by a District Judge. Keeping all these circumstances in vi....
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.... for the High Court to have considered whether the denial of relief under the proviso to section 39(5) was proper or not, it was not open to the High Court to reappreciate the primary or perceptive facts which were otherwise within the domain of the fact-finding authority under the statute. The question whether the transactions were or were not sales exigible to sales tax constituted an exercise in recording secondary or inferential facts based on primary facts found by the statutory authorities...... ....... Judicial review, it is trite, is not directed against the decision but is confined to the decision-making process. Judicial review cannot extend to the examination of the correctness or reasonableness of a decision as a matter of fact. The purpose of judicial review is to ensure that the individual receives fair treatment and not to ensure that the authority after according fair treatment reaches, on a matter which it is authorised by law to decide, a conclusion which is correct in the eyes of the court. Judicial review is not an appeal from a decision but a review of the manner in which the decision is made. It will be erroneous to think that the court sits in judgment not....