Writ petition dismissed owing to alternate remedy when vires of GST law challenged: Guj HC DB

At the outset, the Hon'ble Apex Court in Assistant Commissioner of State Tax v. M/s. Commercial Steel Ltd. (referred supra) had stated that a writ petition can be entertained under exceptional circumstances like:

• Breach of fundamental rights;
• Violation of principles of natural justice;
• Excess of jurisdiction; and
• Challenge to the vires of the statute or delegated legislation.

In the current instance, the petitioner had challenged the vires of the statute. It is impossible for an appellate authority (who is a creature of the statute) to declare a provision in the same statute as ultra vires. Given this,  it is not clear how the alternate remedy of appeal can be efficacious.