1. I have had the benefit of perusing the Judgment prepared by my brother Beg, J. and I agree with the order proposed by him.

2. I agree that the preliminary objection raised by the respondents on the ground that the petitioner should be referred to his statutory remedies under the U.P. Sales Tax Act should be rejected. The writ petitions were filed against the assessment orders and while they were pending the petitioner also filed appeals against these assessment orders. The appeals were dismissed as being defective. The writ petitions were amended to include a prayer for relief against the appellate orders. One of the grounds taken in these cases before us is that R.12 - A is ultra vires. That is a ground which cannot be entertained by the authorities constituted under the U.P. Sales Tax Act . In Behari Lal Shyam Sunder v. Sales Tax Officer , Cuttack (1966) 17 STC 508 (SC) the imposition of sales tax was challenged on the ground that a rule was ultra vires, and the Supreme Court repelled the contention that the question could have been examined and decided by the authorities constituted under the statute. Then there is the circumstance that the questions raised in these writ peti