Writ petitions challenging appealable tax assessments are not entertained when a statutory appeal is available.

The petitioner filed three writ petitions challenging ex parte reassessment orders concerning assessment years 2015–16, 2017–18 and 2018–19, along with related notices and penalty-recovery proceedings.

He contended that the same amount had been reflected in two assessment years and that particulars were missing for another year.

The Revenue submitted that the orders were appealable.

The petitioner had not pursued the statutory appeals before approaching the High Court.

1. Whether the writ petitions should be entertained when the impugned assessment orders were appealable and the petitioner had not first filed appeals.

2. Whether the petitioner should be permitted to raise his contentions before the appellate authority.

The Court applied the alternative-remedy principle in exercising its writ jurisdiction under Article 226: where an effective appeal is available and there is no identified impediment to pursuing it, a petitioner should ordinarily approach the appellate authority rather than invoke writ jurisdiction in the first instance.

The judgment cited no statutory provision or precedent as the basis for this principle; the provisions of the Income Tax Act mentioned in the petitions’ prayers were not discussed as grounds for deciding the writ petitions.

The Court noted the petitioner’s claims that the assessment orders were ex parte and contained discrepancies, but considered that those matters could be raised in an appeal.

Because the orders were appealable and no impediment to filing appeals was shown, the petitioner’s decision to approach the High Court without doing so did not warrant entertaining the writ petitions.

The Court therefore left the petitioner’s substantive contentions for the appellate authority to consider.

It directed that any delay in filing those appeals be condoned by the appellate authority and permitted the petitioner to raise all contentions there.

No costs were awarded; the connected miscellaneous petitions were closed.