M.S V M Hebbal Contractor vs. The Assistant Commissioner Of Commercial

The petitioner is before this Court seeking for the following prayer: “To issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction by: a. quashing show cause notice in FNO.DGGI/ INT/INTL/1631/2021/2145-SCN SL.NO.67/ 2024-25BLZU 23.07.2024 at Annexure-C1 issued by respondent No.3; b. quashing order passed by respondent No.4 in OIO SL.NO.BEL-EXC-DIV-ADC-A.S.C.101/2024-25 (GST) at Annexure-C2 dated 27.12.2024; c. quashing recovery notice issued in file No.GEXCOM/ADJN/GST/ADC/2632/2024 dated 13.08.2025 at Annexure-E issued by respondent No.5.”

Heard the learned counsel Sri.Prakash D. appearing for the petitioner and the learned AGA Sri.T.Hanumareddy for the respondent-State.

Learned counsel appearing for the parties in unison would submit that, the issue in the lis stands covered by judgment rendered by the Coordinate Bench of this Court in Writ Petition No.26164/2024, disposed off on 30th September 2024, wherein it is held as follows: “In this petition, petitioner seeks for the following reliefs:- HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:16197 “a) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of quashing the Show Cause Notice dated: 05.08.2024 issued under Section 74 of the Act for the tax period July 2017-2023 by the Respondent No.1 bearing DIN No. 20240857YX0000424474, having filed no. GEXCOM/AE/INV/GST/4583/2022-AE and SCN Ref No. 34/2024-25 herein marked as Annexure-A. b) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the DRC- 01 dated; 05.08.2024 containing the summary of the show cause notice bearing DIN No. 202408577YX0000424474 issued by the Respondent No.1.Copy of the DRC-01 dated: 05.08.2021 is enclosed and marked as Annexure- B. c) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the Notice of personal hearing dated: 21.08.2024 bearing DIN No.2024857YX0000888C3F. A copy of the notice of personal hearing dated; 21.08.2024 is enclosed and marked as Annexure-C. d) Issue a writ of certiorari or direction in nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the summons dated: 16.05.2024 bearing DIN No. 20240557YX00003833C6. A copy of the notice of personal hearing dated: 16.05.2024 is enclosed and marked as Annexure-D. e) And pass such other orders as this Hon’ble court deems fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity.”

Heard learned Senior counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the respondents – revenue and perused the material on record.

A perusal of the material on record will indicate that though several contentions are urged by both sides in support of their respective claims, the main / primary issue that arises for consideration is, whether the impugned Notices at Annexures-A and B both dated 05.08.2024 are vitiated on account of the fact that the HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:16197 same purport to club / consolidate / group the demand for more than one financial year i.e., for the tax period from 2017 to 2023 and as to whether the impugned Notices deserve to be quashed on this ground. The said issue came up for consideration in the case of M/s. – W.P.No.16500/2024 dated 07.08.2024, in which, the co-ordinate Bench of this Court held as under:- “In this writ petition, the petitioner, a Club, challenges the impugned show cause notice dated 07.05.2024, as detailed in Annexure-F, and the summary of the show cause notice dated 08.05.2024, as outlined in Annexure-G, issued by the respondent for the tax periods 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. The petitioner contends that these notices, issued under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, are flawed due to the improper consolidation of multiple tax periods into a single show cause notice.

The petitioner’s primary argument is that the respondent cannot issue a common show cause notice by grouping the tax periods from 2019 to 2023-24. The petitioner asserts that under Section 73 of the CGST Act, a specific action must be completed within the relevant year, and the limitation period of three years applies separately to each assessment year. Consequently, the petitioner contends that clubbing multiple tax periods in a single notice is impermissible, and separate notices should have been issued for each assessment year under sub-Section (1) of Section 73. 3. The petitioner relies on the judgment of the Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of M/s. Titan relied on the Hon’ble Supreme Court's decision in State Ltd.,2 . The Hon’ble Apex Court held that where an assessment encompasses different assessment years, each assessment order can be distinctly separated and must be treated independently. HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:16197

This Court has reviewed the judgment of the Madras High Court and the scope of inquiry under Section 73 of the CGST Act. Based on the established legal principles and the precedent set by the Hon’ble Apex Court, this Court finds that the respondent erred in issuing a consolidated show cause notice for multiple assessment years, spanning from 2019 to 2023-24. 5. Section 73(10) of the CGST Act mandates a specific time limit from the due date for furnishing the annual return for the financial year to which the tax due relates. The law stipulates that particular actions must be completed within a designated year, and such actions should be executed in accordance with the law's provisions. The principles enunciated in the judgment cited by the Hon’ble Supreme Court are directly applicable to the present case.

For the reasons aforementioned, this Court concludes that the show cause notices issued by the respondent are fundamentally flawed. The practice of issuing a single, consolidated show cause notice for multiple assessment years contravenes the provisions of the CGST Act and established legal precedents.

Accordingly, this Court proceeds to pass the following: ORDER (i) The writ petition is allowed; (ii) The impugned show cause notice dated 07.05.2024 (Annexure-F) and the summary of the show cause notice dated 08.05.2024 (Annexure-G) issued by the respondent for the tax periods 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023- 24 are hereby quashed; (iii) This order, however, does not preclude the respondent from issuing separate show cause notices for each assessment year in compliance with Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017.” HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:16197

In the light of the issue standing covered by the judgment passed by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court (supra), I deem it appropriate to pass the following: ORDER i. Writ Petition is allowed. ii. The show cause notice dated 23.07.2024 (Annexure-C1) issued by respondent No.3, the order-in-original dated 27.12.2024 (Annexure-C2) issued by the respondent No.4 and the recovery notice dated 13.08.2025 (Annexure-E) issued by respondent No.5 stand quashed; iii. This order, however, does not preclude the respondent from issuing separate show cause notices for each assessment year in compliance with Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017. (M.NAGAPRASANNA) JUDGE KGK/CT-ASC / List No.: 1 Sl No.: 95