Vettolil Varghese Aniyan Kunju Vs State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
The writ petition challenged Ext.P1 Show Cause Notice issued by the respondents for multiple financial years, namely 2019-2020 to 2021-2022. The petitioner contended that the issuance of a composite show cause notice covering multiple assessment years was legally unsustainable. Reliance was placed on the decisions of the Kerala High Court in Joint Commissioner (Intelligence & Enforcement) v. M/s. Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories [2025 KHC OnLine 149] and Tharayil Medicals v. Deputy Commissioner, Audit Division-IV [2025 VIL 356 KER], wherein such composite notices and orders for multiple assessment years had been held to be impermissible.
After hearing both sides, the Court found merit in the petitioner’s contention and noted that the Division Bench had already laid down the relevant legal principles in the above decisions. In view of those precedents, the Court held that interference was warranted.
Accordingly, the writ petition was disposed of by quashing Ext.P1 Show Cause Notice. However, the respondents were granted liberty to issue separate notices for the relevant assessment years. The Court further directed that, while computing the limitation period for initiating fresh proceedings, the period from the date of issuance of the impugned show cause notice until the date of receipt of the certified copy of the judgment shall be excluded. All other contentions of the parties were left open.
