Sri Sri Granites Vs Assistant Commissioner (Kerala High Court)
The writ petition challenged Ext.P1 consolidated Show Cause Notice issued by the respondents for multiple financial years, namely 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. The petitioner contended that issuance of a composite notice covering multiple assessment years was not legally sustainable, relying on the decisions of the Kerala 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 parties, the Kerala High Court found merit in the petitioner’s submission, observing that the Division Bench had already held in the cited decisions that issuance of a composite notice for multiple assessment years was not legally sustainable.
In light of the principles laid down in those judgments, the Court interfered with Ext.P1 and quashed the consolidated Show Cause Notice issued for the financial years 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. The Court granted liberty to the respondents to issue separate notices for the relevant assessment years. It further directed that the period from the date of issuance of the composite notice until the date of receipt of the certified copy of the judgment shall be excluded while computing the period of limitation for initiating fresh proceedings. All other contentions of the parties were left open.
