Spice Retails Limitation Protection Granted

The dispute arose from appeals instituted by Spice Retails Limited before the Calcutta High Court challenging certain sales tax orders both on merits and on constitutional grounds relating to vires of statutory provisions. 

Since vires challenges are ordinarily adjudicated by constitutional courts, the assessee had approached the High Court instead of pursuing the ordinary appellate mechanism under the statute.

During pendency of the proceedings, the constitutional issues concerning vires stood settled through earlier judgments of the High Court. Consequently, the assessee sought permission to withdraw the pending appeals with liberty to approach the statutory appellate authority solely on merits.

Recognizing that the vires controversy no longer survived and that the remaining disputes could appropriately be adjudicated by the statutory appellate authority, the Court permitted withdrawal of the appeals with liberty to file fresh statutory appeals on the same grounds except the vires challenge.