The State of Madhya Pradesh and another v. Commercial Engineers and Body Building Company limited

Case snapshot

Sections / provisions: Article 226; 227 of constitution of India and 14 of Madhya Pradesh VAT Act

Questions before the Court / Tribunal

• The State of Madhya Pradesh and another Vs Commercial Engineers and body building company limited (Supreme Court) Date- 14th October 2022 Sub-When Writ petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India can be entertained by Courts disregarding the statutory remedy available under the respective Act. The Supreme Court of India in this short judgement was considering SLP of the Department under Madhya Pradesh Value Added Tax Act where the High Court in terms of powers under Article 226 entertained a writ petition by quashing the order denying input credit u/s 14 of the said Act by observing that there…
• What factual, statutory and procedural conditions control the relief?
• How does the operative order apply to the parties and the challenged proceeding?

Material facts and procedural background

The State of Madhya Pradesh and Another …Appellants

the respondent – assessee – original writ petitioner. The impugned

the respondent – assessee – original writ petition to prefer a statutory

judgment which contain the views of this Court read as under: (SCC pp. 175-76) “29. In our opinion, the High Court while exercising its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution is duty-bound to take all the relevant facts and circumstances into consideration and decide for itself even in the absence of proper affidavits from the State and its instrumentalities as to whether any case at all is made out requiring its interference on the basis of the material made available on record. There is nothing like issuing an ex parte writ of mandamus, order or direction in a public law remedy. Further, while considering the validity of impugned action or inaction the Court will not consider itself restricted to the pleadings of the State but would be free to satisfy itself whether any case as such is made out by a person invoking its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. 30. The Court while exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 is duty- bound to consider whether: (a) adjudication of writ petition involves any complex and disputed questions of facts and whether they can be satisfactorily resolved; (b) the petition reveals all…

abdicated and given a go-by by a litigant for invoking the forum of judicial review of the High Court under writ jurisdiction. The High Court, with great respect, fell into a manifest error by not appreciating this aspect of the matter. It has however dismissed the writ petition on the ground of lack of territorial jurisdiction. 32. No reason could be assigned by the appellant's counsel to demonstrate why the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court under Section 35 of FEMA does not provide an efficacious remedy. In fact there could hardly be any reason since the High Court itself is the appellate forum.”

Appellant / assessee submissions

3. Number of submissions have been made by the learned counsel

4. Having heard learned counsel for the respective parties at length

Revenue / respondent submissions

The packaged judgment does not separately label the respondent's submissions in an independently extractable passage. No contention is inferred; read the full order.

Court / Tribunal analysis and reasoning

The reasoning is integrated into the packaged record. Read it with the facts, statutory text and operative directions; this editorial article does not invent missing reasons.

Operative decision and relief

herein – original writ petitioner – assessee is hereby dismissed on the

same be entertained and decided and disposed of on merits without

such is hereby quashed and set aside by the present judgment and

9. The present appeal is allowed to the aforesaid extent. However,

Ratio and legal principle

• The packaged judgment addresses The State of Madhya Pradesh and another Vs Commercial Engineers and body building company limited (Supreme Court) Date- 14th October 2022 Sub-When Writ petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India can be entertained by Courts disregarding the statutory remedy available under the respective Act. The Supreme Court of India in this short judgement was considering SLP of the Department under Madhya Pradesh Value Added Tax Act where the High Court in terms of powers under Article 226 entertained a writ petition by quashing the order denying input credit u/s 14 of the said Act by observing that there…. The precise proposition must be read with the Court/Tribunal's reasoning and operative directions.
• Reliance depends on matching the statutory version, jurisdiction, procedural stage and material evidence recorded in the judgment.

Why this judgment matters

This decision is relevant to practitioners and affected parties dealing with the state of madhya pradesh and another vs commercial engineers and body building company limited (supreme court) date- 14th october 2022 sub-when writ petition under article 226/227 of the constitution of india can be entertained by courts disregarding the statutory remedy available under the respective act. the supreme court of india in this short judgement was considering slp of the department under madhya pradesh value added tax act where the high court in terms of powers under article 226 entertained a writ petition by quashing the order denying input credit u/s 14 of the said act by observing that there… Its value lies in showing how the adjudicating forum connected the applicable rule to the proved facts and procedural posture.

Practitioner action points

• Match the statutory version, jurisdiction, procedural stage and decisive evidence before relying on the result.
• Verify current appellate, review and SLP history and any later amendment or controlling authority.
• Attach the complete judgment to the working paper or filing and cite the paragraph/page supporting the proposition.

Does this case match your facts?

Section / provision impact

• Article 226 - apply the exact version considered in the judgment.
• 227 of constitution of India and 14 of Madhya Pradesh VAT Act - apply the exact version considered in the judgment.

Case network

Similar issue / useful comparison

• State of Gujarat and Anr Vs Saw Pipes Ltd - Supreme Court of India
• Commissioner of Customs ,Central Excise & Service-tax Vs Suzlon Energy Ltd - Supreme Court of India
• CCE Aurangabad Vs Videocon Industries Limited - Supreme Court of India

Different outcome / possible distinction

• M/s Thermax Limited Vs Commissioner of Central Excise, Pune - Operative order controls
• Pr Commissioner of Central Excise, Kolkata- IV Vs Himadri Speciality Chemicals Limited - Operative order controls

Related Finin2min resources

• Case Law Hub
• Search all judgments

Full judgment and source control

Read / download packaged judgment record

Source class: SANITIZED_OFFICIAL_PRIMARY_JUDGMENT_COPY · Repository status: PUBLISH_READY