Kerala High Court Invalidates Composite GST Notices Covering Multiple Assessment Years

In a pivotal judicial development concerning the procedural integrity of indirect tax assessments, the Kerala High Court has firmly ruled against the issuance of consolidated tax notices that bundle multiple assessment years into a single proceeding. The judgment, delivered in the case of K.P Salih Vs Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax and Central Excise, reinforces the statutory requirement for year-wise segregation in tax demands under the current Goods and Services Tax regime.

This ruling serves as a critical safeguard for the assessee, ensuring that tax authorities cannot arbitrarily merge distinct financial periods into a singular composite order, which often complicates the defense and obscures the specific legal and factual nuances of each respective year.

The primary issue placed before the Kerala High Court revolved around a batch of writ petitions where the assessee challenged the jurisdictional validity of composite notices and subsequent orders issued by the GST department. The contested documents sought to assess and demand tax for multiple assessment years simultaneously, merging the periods into one unified proceeding under the CGST Act.

The petitioners argued that the statutory framework of the CGST Act does not empower proper officers to issue such consolidated notices. To substantiate their claim, the assessee relied heavily on recent binding precedents established by the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court.

Reliance on Division Bench Precedents

The legal foundation of the assessee's challenge was built upon two landmark decisions:

  1. Joint Commissioner (Intelligence & Enforcement) v. M/s. Lakshmi Mobiles Accessories [2025 KHC OnLine 149]
  2. Tharayil Medicals (M/s.), Thrissur v. Deputy Commissioner, Thrissur [2025 KHC OnLine 467]

In both of the aforementioned cases, the Division Bench conducted an exhaustive analysis of the assessment scheme embedded within the CGST Act. The courts categorically concluded that the legislative intent and the procedural mechanisms of the GST framework do not accommodate the issuance of composite notices or composite orders spanning multiple assessment years. According to these rulings, such consolidated actions are legally unsustainable and void ab initio.