GST Dispute Must Go Through Appeal Process: High Court

The petitioner, a registered assessee under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law, sought to challenge an impugned order dated December 31, 2025, which raised a substantial demand of Rs. 36,00,58,562.16/- on account of GST, interest, and penalties for the Financial Year 2018-2019. This order was issued by the respondent under Section 74 of the GST Act, 2017, and was subsequently contested by the petitioner through the invocation of the High Court’s extraordinary writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Issue in this Case

Whether the High Court should entertain a writ petition under Article 226 when the petitioner has an available and “equally efficacious” statutory remedy (an appeal) under Section 107 of the GST Act?

Decision of the court

The Court dismissed the case because the petitioner tried to skip the standard legal process for challenging a tax demand. The judges explained that when a law like the GST Act provides a specific way to appeal, that “official route” must be used first unless there is a major issue, such as a violation of fundamental rights or a total lack of authority, none of which were found here.
While the petitioner claimed they weren’t treated fairly, the Court found they had actually participated in the process by sending a detailed reply and were never actually denied a hearing they asked for. Additionally, because the petitioner’s own paperwork essentially admitted to the tax mistake, the Court saw no reason to step in early and directed them to file a regular appeal under Section 107 instead.