Revised returns after the statutory period may be accepted when no penal proceedings are pending and the request is bona fide.

Under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003, revised returns may be entertained where the dealer seeks to correct omissions or mistakes and no penal proceedings or proceedings for detected evasion are pending. The prescribed time limits are enabling rather than an absolute bar, so a bona fide request to revise returns need not be rejected merely because it is made after expiry of the statutory period. A possible later claim to input tax credit cannot, by itself, justify refusal of revision when the request is otherwise genuine. Revised returns were therefore accepted as permissible in the absence of pending penal action.

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Issues: Whether a dealer may seek revision of returns beyond the statutory period when no penal proceedings are pending, and whether a possible claim to input tax credit can be used to deny such revision.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 permits revised returns in specified contingencies and within prescribed time limits, but the prohibition is directed only against revision where penal proceedings or proceedings for detected evasion have already been initiated. The time-limit provisions are enabling in character and do not create an absolute bar against a bona fide request to correct omissions or mistakes when no penal action is pending. A voluntary attempt to rectify returns and pay the correct tax should not be rejected merely because the statutory period has elapsed, provided the request is not intended to defeat penal consequences. The possibility that a revised return may later support a claim for input tax credit cannot, by itself, justify refusal of revision if the claim is otherwise bona fide.

Conclusion: Revision of returns was held to be permissible in the absence of pending penal proceedings, even if sought beyond the prescribed period, and the assessees were entitled to have their revised returns accepted.

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