Facts of the Case

The petitioners, three co-owners of the Alitopoo Group of Estates, challenged three orders dated 27.01.2025 and three corresponding show cause notices (dated 26.07.2024 and two dated 30.07.2024) issued by the Superintendent of Central Tax, Virajpet Range, under Section 74 of the CGST/KGST Act, 2017. Each of the show cause notices and orders covered a consolidated block spanning financial years 2017-18 to 2022-23 — six separate tax periods clubbed into a single composite notice and single order. The petitioners sought quashing of all three notices and orders as issued without jurisdiction and contrary to the scheme of the GST Act.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether clubbing or consolidating multiple tax periods/financial years into a single composite show cause notice under Section 73/74 of the CGST/KGST Act is legally permissible.
  2. Whether the impugned show cause notices and consequential orders spanning six financial years deserve to be quashed on this ground.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The issue was squarely covered by the Court's own recent decision in M/s Pramur Homes and Shelters v. Union of India (WP No.33081/2025), which had already held such clubbing of multiple financial years in one composite notice illegal, invalid and without jurisdiction.
  • Since each of the three impugned notices and orders similarly combined multiple financial years, they were equally vitiated and liable to be quashed.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Several contentions were urged by the respondent-Superintendent in support of the notices and orders, but none distinguished the facts from the binding ratio already laid down in Pramur Homes and Shelters.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court reproduced its findings in Pramur Homes and Shelters that clubbing, consolidation, bunching or combining of multiple tax periods/financial years in a single composite show cause notice under Section 73/74 is illegal, invalid, impermissible and without jurisdiction or authority of law, being contrary to the scheme of the CGST/KGST Act.
  • Applying this ratio directly, the Court quashed all three impugned show cause notices dated 26.07.2024 and 30.07.2024 and all three orders dated 27.01.2025, along with all further proceedings pursuant thereto.
  • Liberty was reserved to the respondents to initiate fresh, period-compliant proceedings in accordance with law, with the petitioners entitled to contest any such fresh proceedings.

Important Clarification

  • A single show cause notice or adjudication order under Section 73 or Section 74 of the CGST/KGST Act cannot validly bundle multiple distinct financial years/tax periods together — each tax period requires its own notice and order.
  • Notices or orders that club several financial years are without jurisdiction and liable to be quashed in entirety, though the department retains liberty to reinitiate proceedings separately for each tax period, subject to limitation.

Sections Involved

  • Section 74, CGST/KGST Act, 2017 – determination of tax not paid by reason of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression.
  • Section 73, CGST/KGST Act, 2017 – parallel provision for non-fraud cases, also covered by the same clubbing prohibition.

Decision – In Favour of

In favour of the assessee — all impugned notices and orders quashed, with liberty to the department to reinitiate proceedings in accordance with law.

Case Details

High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru; WP No. 12108 of 2025 (T-RES); Coram: Hon'ble Mr Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar; Date: 17.12.2025.

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