TMI Blog2021 (9) TMI 939X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se, and there is no straight jacket formula on the same. In case of Companies registered under the Companies Act or other financial institutions, they would have a large team of legal experts to assess and who can appear before the Assessing Officer or who can furnish details, as called for by the Assessing Officer. This may not be a case, when it comes to an individual-assessee. Especially, when a person, like an appellant, who states that he is employed and carrying on a part time business, who being a multi-level marketing person in a chain of marketing persons, who handle projects, manufactured / marketed by M/s. Amway. Assessment order has been passed in violation of principles of natural justice and therefore, the Writ Petition was maintainable. - W.A.No.2304 of 2021 And C.M.P.No.14638 of 2021 - - - Dated:- 15-9-2021 - Honourable Mr.Justice T.S.Sivagnanam And Honourable Mr.Justice Sathi Kumar Sukumara Kurup For the Appellant : Mr. Raja Karthikeyan For the Respondent : Mrs. Hema Muralikrishnan Senior Standing Counsel JUDGMENT T.S.SIVAGNANAM, J. This writ appeal filed by the writ petitioner is directed against the order dated 26.07 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s given only two days time to furnish the details and the 3rd day being Sunday (21.03.2021). Since the appellant had to obtain the credit card details from ICICI Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, he would not comply with the same within the time frame given. (5)Furthermore, the Authority called for the details on nine heads, which according to the appellant were voluminous and only two working days time was provided, which was grossly insufficient. (6) In the meantime, the respondent issued Show Cause Notice dated 31.03.2021 enclosing the draft assessment order and granted one day time to file objection. The appellant stated to have received the credit card statements from the Standard Chartered Bank on 15.04.2021 and furnished all the details to the respondent on 17.04.2021, as directed in the notice dated 18.03.2021 and the show cause notice dated 31.03.2021. The respondent has received the documents filed by the appellant through E-filing mode on 17.04.2021. (7)However, the assessment order was passed on 19.04.2021, without taking note of any of the documents filed by the appellant. This necessitated the appellant to approach the Writ Court challenging the asses ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... But the High Court has imposed upon itself certain restrictions one of which is that if an effective and efficacious remedy is available, the High Court would not normally exercise its jurisdiction. But the alternative remedy has been consistently held by this Court not to operate as a bar in at least three contingencies, namely, where the writ petition has been filed for the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights or where there has been a violation of the principle of natural justice or where the order or proceedings are wholly without jurisdiction or the vires of an Act is challenged . There is a plethora of case-law on this point but to cut down this circle of forensic whirlpool, we would rely on some old decisions of the evolutionary era of the constitutional law as they still hold the field. ( emphasis supplied ) 27. Following the dictum of this Court in Whirlpool (supra) , in Harbanslal Sahnia v. Indian Oil Corpn. Ltd. , this court noted that: 7. So far as the view taken by the High Court that the remedy by way of recourse to arbitration clause was available to the appellants and therefore the writ petition filed by the appellants was liable ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ionary remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution. This rule of exhaustion of statutory remedies is a rule of policy, convenience and discretion; and (vi) In cases where there are disputed questions of fact, the High Court may decide to decline jurisdiction in a writ petition. However, if the High Court is objectively of the view that the nature of the controversy requires the exercise of its writ jurisdiction, such a view would not readily be interfered with. In terms of the above decision, if the appellant-assessee is able to establish a case of violation of principles of natural justice, then it is one of the exceptions carved out by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, where despite availability of an alternate remedy, the appellant would be entitled to approach the Writ Court. 7. We also note yet another recent decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Assistant Commissioner of State Tax and Ors. Vs. Commercial Steel Limited reported in [2021-VIL-80-SC] . In the said decision, the Hon'ble Supreme Court pointed out that existence of an alternate remedy is not an absolute bar to the maintainability of a Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constituti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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