KALLETTUMKARA SERVICE CO-OPERATIVE BANK LTD v. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER (INTELLIGENCE) & ORS.

Introduction

This judgment of the Kerala High Court reiterates the settled legal position that a single Show Cause Notice covering multiple assessment years is not permissible under the GST law. The Court held that every financial year constitutes a distinct assessment period requiring an independent adjudication. Consequently, a consolidated Show Cause Notice issued for several assessment years is legally unsustainable.

Following the binding Division Bench decisions in Joint Commissioner (Intelligence & Enforcement) v. M/s. Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories and Tharayil Medicals (M/s.) v. Deputy Commissioner, Thrissur, the Court quashed the composite Show Cause Notice and granted liberty to the Revenue to issue separate notices for each assessment year. To protect the Revenue from limitation, the Court further directed that the period during which the defective proceedings remained pending shall be excluded while computing limitation for fresh proceedings.