Nav Bsa Enterprises Vs Enforcement Officer (Kerala High Court)
The Kerala High Court considered a writ petition challenging Ext.P1, a consolidated show cause notice issued by the respondents covering multiple financial years, namely 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.
The petitioner challenged the validity of the notice on the ground that issuance of a composite show cause notice for multiple assessment years was not legally sustainable. In support of this contention, reliance was placed on the decisions of the High Court in Joint Commissioner (Intelligence & Enforcement) v. M/s. Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories and Tharayil Medicals v. Deputy Commissioner, Audit Division-IV.
After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel for the respondents, the Court found merit in the petitioner’s submission. The Court observed that the Division Bench, in the decisions relied upon by the petitioner, had indeed held that issuance of a composite notice covering multiple assessment years was not legally sustainable.
In view of the principles laid down in those judgments, the Court held that interference with the impugned notice was warranted. Accordingly, the writ petition was disposed of by quashing Ext.P1.
The Court granted liberty to the respondents to issue separate show cause notices for the relevant assessment years. It further directed that, for the purpose of computing limitation for initiating fresh proceedings, the period from the date of issuance of the composite notice until the date of receipt of the certified copy of the judgment would stand excluded.
