Abdul Kader M Vs State Tax Officer (Madras High Court)
In Abdul Kader M vs State Tax Officer, the Madras High Court dealt with a writ petition challenging the validity of Notification Nos. 09/2023 and 56/2023 issued under the GST framework, along with a consequential assessment order dated 30.07.2024. The matter was taken up for final disposal at the admission stage with the consent of both parties.
During the hearing, both sides submitted that the issue relating to the validity of the impugned notifications had already been decided by the Court in a prior batch of cases by order dated 12.06.2025. In that earlier decision, the Court held that the authorities under the CGST Act are entitled to exclusion of the period from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 for the purpose of limitation, in line with the Supreme Court’s order dated 10.01.2022. The Court further held that Notification Nos. 09/2023 and 56/2023 were vitiated and illegal for several reasons, including curtailment of limitation contrary to statutory provisions, erroneous assumptions regarding the law, arbitrariness, extinguishment of vested rights, lack of proper examination of relevant materials, and failure to comply with statutory requirements in issuing Notification No. 56/2023.
Following the earlier ruling, the Court in the present case held that the impugned notifications were vitiated and illegal. However, it also observed that the initiation of proceedings by the respondent by applying Section 168A of the CGST Act was valid, considering the extension of limitation granted by the Supreme Court in Suo Moto proceedings.
