Writ jurisdiction is no substitute for the GST statutory appeal, Rajasthan High Court holds

3 November 2026

The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed a writ petition against a goods and services tax confiscation order, holding that Article 226 cannot be used to bypass the appeal the tax law itself provides.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay K Agrawal and Justice Sameer Jain decided Smt. Usha v Union of India and others.
The petitioner had challenged a confiscation order in FORM GST MOV-11 and a demand for a bank guarantee without first using the appeal under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act and the Rajasthan Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The Bench described the tax law as a self contained code with its own grievance mechanism, and said writ jurisdiction must not become a routine substitute for a statutory appeal, least of all in revenue matters.
A writ court cannot hold a roving inquiry or act as an appellate fact finding forum, it said; the Appellate Authority under Section 107 is equipped to weigh the disputed evidence about the nature of the oil, the bypassing of a toll and the multiple e-way bills.
The petition was accordingly dismissed.