ESL Steel Limited and another Vs Union of India & Others (Orissa High Court)
The Orissa High Court considered a writ petition challenging a show-cause notice dated 1 September 2025 proposing a GST levy of ₹512 crores on the assignment of the right to use natural resources. The petitioners questioned the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the GST Act and contended that the impugned notice was contrary to settled principles of law. A key ground raised was that the show-cause notice covered multiple financial years, which, according to the petitioners, is impermissible under law.
At the preliminary stage, the Court permitted the petitioners to implead the State CT & GST Authorities as party-opposite parties and directed service of pleadings upon the concerned counsels representing the Union and State authorities. The Court noted that similar challenges were already pending before it, including W.P.(C) No. 27979 of 2024, where identical legal issues had arisen and writ petitions had been admitted.
The Court also took note of a decision of the Karnataka High Court in Veremax Technologie Services Ltd. v. Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax, where a show-cause notice covering multiple tax periods had been quashed on the ground that issuance of a single notice for multiple periods was not permissible. Observing that the same issue was raised in the present writ petition, the Court found it appropriate to hear the matter along with other pending cases involving identical questions of law.
