K.P Salih Vs Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax and Central Excise (Kerala High Court)
Summary: The Kerala High Court considered a batch of writ petitions challenging composite notices and orders issued under the CGST Act covering multiple assessment years. The petitioners contended that such composite proceedings were legally unsustainable in view of the Division Bench decisions in Joint Commissioner (Intelligence & Enforcement) v. M/s. Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories [2025 KHC OnLine 149] and Tharayil Medicals (M/s.), Thrissur v. Deputy Commissioner, Thrissur [2025 KHC OnLine 467]. The Division Bench decisions had held that composite notices and orders covering multiple assessment years were not permissible under the scheme of the CGST Act.
The respondents, in W.P.(C) Nos. 19658/2025, 19831/2025 and 22396/2025, opposed the relief by relying upon the Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court in The State of Jammu and Kashmir and Others v. Caltex (India) Ltd [1965 SCC OnLine SC 168 : (1966) 17 STC 612]. It was submitted that the observations in Caltex had not been brought to the notice of the Division Bench while deciding Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories and Tharayil Medicals.
The Kerala High Court rejected this contention. The Court examined the Caltex decision and held that it could not be applied to the cases before it. First, Caltex had been decided under the Jammu and Kashmir Motor Spirit (Taxation of Sales) Act, 2005, whose statutory scheme was different. Secondly, the competence of an officer to issue a composite notice covering multiple assessment years was not the issue considered in that case.
