Constitution of India:

Art. 226 – Jurisdiction under – Scope of – Assessment under Andhra Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 – Appeal against assessment order filed beyond limitation period with application for condonation of delay – Appeal dismissed as barred by limitation – Writ Petition u/Art. 226 seeking to quash the assessment order – High Court quashed the assessment order relegating the assessee to Assessing Officer for reconsideration of the matter afresh – Appeal to Supreme Court – Held: Where a right or liability is created by a statute, giving a special remedy for enforcing it, remedy provided by the statute only must be availed of – The wide jurisdiction of High Court provided u/Art. 226, does not mean that it can pass order in disregard of the substantive provisions of a statute – The statutory appeal was filed beyond the total 60 days’ period specified in s.31 of 2005 Act – The appellate authority is not empowered to condone delay of the aggregate period of 60 days – Since the statutory period specified for filing the appeal had expired and appeal was filed without substantiating the ground for delay in filing the appeal, no indulgence could be shown to the assessee – the writ petition deserved to be rejected at the threshold.

Doctrine:

Doctrine of merger – Rejection of condonation of delay application by appellate forum does not entail in merger of the assessment order with that order.