Facts of the Case

Dr. Mohammad Seraj Ansari filed a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution (Matters Under Article 227 No. 4763 of 2023) before the Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, against M/S Deora Infratech Pvt. Ltd. and others, challenging an order dated 25.04.2023. That order directed that the petitioner's claim — as to whether GST was payable or not on a certain transaction — would be decided finally on merits at the time of disposing of the underlying suit, rather than as a preliminary issue. The Court noted that an earlier order dated 30.08.2022 had already considered and rejected the petitioner's request to treat the GST question as a preliminary issue, and that this earlier order had never been challenged.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petition challenging the 25.04.2023 order was maintainable, given that the earlier 30.08.2022 order on the same point had gone unchallenged.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner sought a determination of whether GST was payable on the transaction in question, and challenged the trial court's refusal to decide this as a preliminary issue.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The respondent's position, as reflected in the order, was that the question had already been settled by the unchallenged 30.08.2022 order, making the present challenge impermissible.

Court Order / Findings

  • Justice Rajnish Kumar held that the contention regarding treating the GST question as a preliminary issue had already been considered and decided by the order dated 30.08.2022, which was never challenged.
  • Since that earlier order attained finality, the present petition challenging the consequential 25.04.2023 order was held not maintainable.
  • The petition was dismissed.

Important Clarification

This order does not decide whether GST was, in fact, payable on the transaction — that question remains open for final adjudication at trial. The ruling is purely about procedural maintainability: a party cannot indirectly reopen a previously unchallenged and final order by challenging a later order that merely implements it.

Sections Involved

  • Article 227 of the Constitution of India (supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court).
  • The underlying dispute involves a claim about whether Goods and Services Tax is payable, to be decided finally at trial — not decided in this order.

Decision – In Favour of

Decided against the petitioner on maintainability; the petition was dismissed without any ruling on the underlying GST payability question, which remains to be decided finally at trial.

Case Details

Court: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench
Case No.: Matters Under Article 227 No. 4763 of 2023
Neutral Citation: 2023:AHC-LKO:63185
Coram: Justice Rajnish Kumar
Date: 03.10.2023
Parties: Dr. Mohammad Seraj Ansari vs. M/S Deora Infratech Pvt. Ltd. Lko & Others

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