2020 (10) TMI 206

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.....P.Nos.16714 and 16764 of 2019 on the ground of availability of alternative remedy under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act before the appellate authority as the present writ petitions were filed against the two assessment orders dated 29.11.2019 and 30.04.2019 as noted in para 3 of the order impugned before us. 2. The reasons assigned by the learned Single Judge in the impugned order are quoted below for ready reference. "8. In response to this, learned counsel taking this Court through the impugned order, submitted that the Authority has only said, in the absence of supporting documents, Form WW cannot be amended / revised. However, fact remains that the corrigendum has certainly not been looked into. The relevant portions in ....

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.... have been raised in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition and this court is relegating the writ petitioner to the alternate remedy." ...... 16. In the instant cases, in the light of narrative thus far, this Court is of the considered view that this case does not fall under any of the aforesaid exceptions. It is nobody's case that the Authority has passed the impugned orders without jurisdiction. With regard to NJP, discussion supra will reveal that personal hearing has admittedly been granted to the writ petitioner. It is also nobody's case that alternate remedy is ineffective, ineffectual or not efficacious. 17.However, the issue regarding corrigendum to Form WW shall be looked into by Appe....

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....tice and therefore the learned Single Judge ought to have entertained the writ petitions on merits and allowed the same. He further submitted that Section 63A of the Tamil Nadu VAT Act permits amendment and modification of Form 'WW' to be signed by Chartered Accountant / Auditor of the Assessee company. He further submitted that the same learned Single Judge after few days, allowed another writ petition with regard to the rate of tax applicable on the UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) sold by the Assessee and accordingly the Assessing Officer himself has rectified the Assessment Orders for subsequent periods. He referred to the proceedings of the Assessing Authority dated 13.08.2019 and submitted before us that for the Assessment Ord....

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....ssee. 6. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties, we are of the clear opinion that the present writ appeals do not have any merit and deserve to be dismissed. The well settled legal position about exercising writ jurisdiction against appealable assessment orders has been settled by a catena of decisions by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and various High Courts. While alternative remedy is not a bar to the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, it is certainly a rule of discretion given to the Writ Courts and therefore if the learned Single Judge has not entertained the writ petitions even on the grounds, interalia, raised before the Writ Court viz., the breach of principles of natural justi....