Malabar Trade Links Vs Superintendent (Kerala High Court)
The Kerala High Court, in Malabar Trade Links v. Superintendent, held that a composite show cause notice covering multiple financial years is legally unsustainable. The petitioner had challenged a composite Show Cause Notice (Ext. P1) issued for the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21, along with the consequential Order-in-Original (Ext. P2). The principal contention was that issuance of a single notice for multiple assessment years had already been held to be impermissible by the Division Bench of the High Court in Joint Commissioner (Intelligence & Enforcement) v. M/s. Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories and Tharayil Medicals v. Deputy Commissioner. After considering the submissions of both parties, the Court found merit in the petitioner’s challenge and noted that the issue stood covered by the earlier binding precedents. Accordingly, the Court quashed both the composite show cause notice and the consequential order, while granting liberty to the authorities to issue separate notices for the relevant assessment years. The Court further directed that the period from the date of the original notice until receipt of the certified copy of the judgment would be excluded for computing limitation for initiating fresh proceedings, leaving all other contentions of the parties open.
