Uttarakhand High Court Declines Bajaj Auto Writ Against GST Order; Pre-Deposit Requirement Not Ground To Bypass Appeal

The Uttarakhand High Court has declined to entertain a writ petition filed by Bajaj Auto Limited challenging a GST adjudication order, holding that the requirement of pre-deposit for availing the appellate remedy cannot be a ground to bypass the statutory appeal mechanism under the GST Act.

The bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay noted that an effective alternative remedy of appeal was available against the impugned order and, in such circumstances, interference in writ jurisdiction was not warranted.

“The requirement under law of making pre-deposit to avail the remedy of appeal cannot itself be a ground to permit the petitioner to bypass the statutory remedy,” the Court observed.

The petition arose from an adjudication order dated December 1, 2025 passed under Section 73(9) of the GST Act, following an audit under Section 65, by which a differential tax demand of 10% was raised in respect of spare parts manufactured during the financial year 2021–22.

The controversy is related to the classification of goods. The adjudicating authority held that the products were classifiable under HSN Code 8714, which covers parts and accessories of vehicles such as motorcycles and bicycles, attracting GST at 28%, whereas the petitioner had discharged tax at 18%.

It was contended on behalf of Bajaj Auto that its reply to the show cause notice had not been properly considered and that the matter required remand. The Court, on perusal of the adjudication order, found that the authority had specifically examined the issue of classification and recorded a clear finding on the applicable HSN code and tax liability.

Taking note of the availability of an appeal under Section 107, the Court declined to examine the matter on merits. It also observed that any favourable orders passed in similar cases could be urged before the appellate authority.

The writ petition was accordingly disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to avail the statutory remedy, with all pleas and contentions left open for consideration on merits.

For Petitioner: Advocates Makarand Joshi, Suryakant Maithani

For Respondents: Advocate Puja Banga (Brief Holder)