Facts of the Case

The petitioners, five group entities of M/s Attica Gold Private Limited operating across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry, challenged an Order-in-Original dated 29.01.2025 passed under Section 74(9) of the CGST Act, 2017 for the composite tax period July 2017 to March 2023, along with consequential DRC-07 summary orders, a show cause notice dated 13.06.2024, its corrigendum, and multiple DRC-01 summaries issued to each entity. All these proceedings had bunched together multiple tax periods and financial years into single, composite notices and orders rather than issuing separate notices for each period.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether clubbing or consolidation of multiple tax periods/financial years into a single, composite show cause notice under Section 73/74 of the CGST/KGST Act is permissible in law.
  2. Whether such a composite notice and all consequential proceedings/orders founded on it are liable to be quashed.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The issue stood squarely covered by the Karnataka High Court's own recent ruling in M/s Pramur Homes and Shelters vs. Union of India, which held that consolidating multiple tax periods into one show cause notice under Section 73/74 is illegal and without jurisdiction.
  • The impugned show cause notice, corrigendum and all consequential DRC-01 summaries, the Order-in-Original, and DRC-07 summaries spanning July 2017 to March 2023 were founded on this same impermissible clubbing and deserved to be quashed in entirety.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The revenue did not dispute that the controversy was directly covered by the Pramur Homes ruling, and the matter proceeded on the basis of applying that precedent to the present facts.

Court Order / Findings

  • Following its own binding ruling in Pramur Homes, the Court reiterated that clubbing, consolidation or bunching of multiple tax periods/financial years into a single composite show cause notice under Section 73/74 of the CGST/KGST Act is illegal, invalid, impermissible and without jurisdiction.
  • Since the impugned show cause notice, corrigendum, all DRC-01 summaries, the Order-in-Original, and DRC-07 summaries encompassed multiple financial years (2017-18 to 2022-23) in composite instruments, all of them were quashed.
  • Liberty was reserved to the department to initiate fresh proceedings in accordance with law, with the petitioners entitled to contest any such fresh proceedings.

Important Clarification

  • A single, composite show cause notice or assessment order spanning multiple tax periods/financial years under Section 73 or 74 of the CGST/KGST Act is impermissible and without jurisdiction; each tax period requires its own separate notice and adjudication.
  • Quashing on this ground does not bar the department from initiating fresh, period-specific proceedings, provided limitation and other legal requirements are independently satisfied.

Sections Involved

  • Section 73, CGST/KGST Act, 2017 - determination of tax not paid/short paid for reasons other than fraud.
  • Section 74, CGST/KGST Act, 2017 - determination of tax involving fraud or wilful misstatement.

Decision – In Favour of

Decided in favour of the assessees; composite show cause notices and orders quashed with liberty to the department to reinitiate proceedings.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru
  • Case No.: WP No.12903 of 2025 (T-RES)
  • Coram: Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar
  • Date: 17th December, 2025

Link to Download the Order

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