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GST - Clubbing of Show Cause Notices for multiple Financial Years, Limitation period, Tax period - Respondent issued a single SCN and passed a single assessment order for six Financial Years, from 2017-18 to 2022-23 - Petitioner contended that "bunching" of assessment periods is arbitrary, illegal as it creates unnecessary hardship and prejudices the assessee's rights to contest specific periods, seek compounding of offences, or avail year-specific amnesty schemes - Whether the respondent can issue a single show cause notice and pass a single composite assessment order for more than one financial year under the provisions of the GST Act - HELD - The bunching of show cause notices, i.e., issuance of a single Show Cause Notice for more than one Financial Year, is impermissible under the provisions of the GST Act. The GST Act treats each Financial Year as a separate and distinct unit for the purposes of assessment and limitation and the limitation period of 3 years or 5 years, as the case may be, is separately applicable for every financial year. – A conjoint reading of Sections 73 and 74 with the definition of "tax period" under Section 2(106) of the CGST Act, 2017 makes it clear that a SCN can be issued for the period for which a return is required to be furnished, which is either a monthly or an annual return. Therefore, a notice can be issued for a part of a FY based on monthly returns or for an entire financial year based on the annual return, but it cannot be clubbed for more than one Financial Year – Further, the provisions for limitation under Section 73(10) and Section 74(10) specify that the time limit of three or five years, respectively, is calculated from the due date for furnishing the annual return for the ‘Financial Year’ to which the tax relates, reinforcing that each year is a separate unit with its own independent limitation period – The practice of bunching notices cause significant prejudice to the assessee, as it frustrates the statutory scheme and prevents year-specific rebuttals, hinders the ability to apply for compounding of offences under Section 138 for a particular year, and obstructs the right to avail potential Amnesty Schemes under Section 128 that may be applicable to only certain years – the impugned order, having been passed by clubbing multiple Financial Years is without jurisdiction and is impermissible in law. The impugned order is quashed and the writ petition is allowed
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