PKL Limited Vs Joint Commissioner (Kerala High Court)
The Kerala High Court considered writ petitions filed by PKL Limited challenging rejection of its appeals concerning assessment years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act. The appeals had been rejected by the First Appellate Authority on the grounds that they were filed with delay and were not accompanied by applications for condonation of delay or payment of the legal benefit fund.
The petitioner, a registered dealer under the KVAT Act, had originally faced assessments under Section 25, resulting in assessment orders dated 31.03.2016. Those orders were challenged before the High Court and were set aside by judgment dated 22.02.2017, with directions to reconsider the matter. Fresh assessment orders were subsequently passed on 16.03.2019, 15.03.2019 and 26.03.2019 for the respective assessment years.
On 29.09.2023, the petitioner filed appeals invoking the special provision under the Kerala Finance Act, 2023, which permitted assessees under the KVAT Act to file fresh appeals up to 30.09.2023 even where the normal appeal period had expired. However, due to a mistake, the petitioner attached and referred to the original assessment orders dated 31.03.2016, which had already been set aside. The petitioner subsequently withdrew those appeals and filed fresh appeals against the revised assessment orders.
