Punj Lloyd Ltd. Vs Union of India (Rajasthan High Court)
The petitioner challenged a show cause notice dated 12.03.2025 and an Order-in-Original dated 27.03.2026 issued under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act). The principal contention was that the authority lacked jurisdiction to issue a consolidated show cause notice covering multiple years and that such a notice was contrary to the scheme of Section 74 of the CGST Act.
The petitioner argued that a single consolidated notice for multiple years was impermissible under the Act and sought quashing of both the show cause notice and the consequent adjudication order. Reliance was placed on several decisions of the Supreme Court, Rajasthan High Court, and other High Courts.
The respondents opposed the writ petition and submitted that the show cause notice had been issued within the prescribed limitation period. They further contended that the petitioner had participated in the adjudication proceedings without challenging the notice at the initial stage and was therefore estopped from raising jurisdictional objections in writ proceedings after the adjudication process had concluded. According to the respondents, Section 74 uses the expression “period” and does not restrict issuance of notices to a particular financial year. It was also argued that any challenge to the findings in the Order-in-Original should be raised through the statutory appellate remedy available under Section 107 of the CGST Act.
