S. S. Iron & Steel & Anr. Vs Union of India and Ors (Calcutta High Court)
The petitioners challenged the legality and validity of an order dated 2 March 2026 passed by the GST authorities under Section 74(9) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The challenge was directed against a consolidated show cause notice covering multiple financial years from 2019-20 to 2023-24 and the consequent adjudication order.
The petitioners argued that the GST authorities lacked jurisdiction to issue a single consolidated show cause notice for several financial years. They relied on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Whirlpool Corporation vs Registrar of Trademarks and the Madras High Court decision in Titan Company Ltd. vs Joint Commissioner of GST. According to the petitioners, Section 73(10) of the CGST Act prescribes separate limitation periods for each financial year, and therefore “bunching” of notices for multiple years is contrary to law. They contended that limitation periods cannot be clubbed or treated as continuing in nature.
The petitioners further referred to Sections 74(9) and 74(10) of the Act and argued that the proper officer must determine tax, interest, and penalty within five years from the date of furnishing the annual return for the relevant financial year. They submitted that the consolidated notice violated the statutory scheme and was therefore unsustainable.
