Finality of assessable value disputes under Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme bars reopening through a fresh notice on the same period.

A dispute on assessable value, once finally settled under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme for a particular period, cannot be reopened through a fresh show cause notice on the same valuation issue for the same goods and period by recasting the ground on a different factual basis. The earlier settlement gave the controversy finality, and fragmenting the dispute did not permit revival of the same assessment matter. The later notice was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether a fresh show cause notice could be sustained for the same assessable value dispute relating to the same goods and period after earlier notices on the same valuation issue had been settled under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998.

Analysis: The earlier notices and the later notice all questioned the assessable value adopted by the respondents. The later notice sought to reopen the same valuation dispute for the same period, albeit on a different factual premise. Once the valuation dispute had been settled under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, the controversy attained finality and could not be revived by fragmenting the dispute or by advancing a different ground for the same assessment period.

Conclusion: The later show cause notice was not sustainable and the Revenue's challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A dispute as to assessable value, once finally settled under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme for a particular period, cannot be reopened through a subsequent notice on the same valuation issue for the same period by presenting it on a different basis.

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