K M TRADING CO. v. THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER & ORS.

This judgment of the Kerala High Court reiterates the settled legal principle that a composite Show Cause Notice (SCN), its summary, and a consolidated adjudication order covering multiple assessment years are legally unsustainable under the GST Act. Following the binding Division Bench decisions in Joint Commissioner (Intelligence & Enforcement) v. M/s. Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories and Tharayil Medicals v. Deputy Commissioner, Audit Division-IV, the Court held that every financial year is an independent assessment unit requiring separate statutory proceedings.

The Court observed that the Department cannot issue one consolidated SCN or pass one adjudication order for several financial years. Consequently, the Court quashed the composite Show Cause Notice, the summary of notice, and the adjudication order, while granting liberty to the Revenue to initiate fresh proceedings by issuing separate notices for each assessment year. To balance the interests of the Revenue, the Court also directed that the period spent in the defective proceedings shall be excluded while computing limitation for fresh proceedings.