Accountants Service Society Vs Union of India (Kerala High Court)
The writ petitions before the Kerala High Court raised a common issue regarding the validity of notices issued under Sections 73 and 74 of the CGST/SGST Act, 2017 in the form of composite notices covering multiple assessment years. The petitioners contended that such notices were unsustainable and relied on earlier decisions of the Court in Lakshmi Mobile Accessories and Tharayil Medicals, where the Division Bench had already considered the issue and held that composite notices for multiple assessment years under the CGST Act were impermissible.
The State and Central Government opposed the petitions, arguing that the Act does not expressly prohibit issuance of composite notices covering multiple years. It was also argued that the Delhi High Court had upheld the validity of such notices and that the Supreme Court had dismissed special leave petitions filed against those decisions. According to the Government, proceedings under Sections 73 and 74 are intended to identify specific instances of tax evasion, short levy, short payment, or wrongful availing of input tax credit. It was further submitted that GST proceedings differ from assessment and reassessment proceedings under earlier statutes, and that financial years may not be decisive for initiating action when irregularities relating to multiple years are discovered during inspection or investigation. Therefore, a common inquiry and consolidated notice could be justified.
