Limitation on reassessment under KVAT cannot be revived retrospectively once the original reopening period has expired.

A reopening notice for escaped turnover under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 was held time-barred because the applicable limitation period had already expired before the notice was issued. The Court applied the earlier binding view that the later six-year amendment could not retrospectively revive a reassessment power where the original five-year period under Section 25(1) had already run out. As the limitation expired on 31.03.2019 and the notice was issued on 18.01.2020, the reassessment proceedings were unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued for reopening assessment of escaped turnover under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 was barred by limitation and whether the reassessment order could be sustained.

Analysis: The assessment year in question had to be governed by the limitation period prescribed under Section 25(1) of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003. The Court applied the earlier binding view that, after the constitutional and statutory changes affecting the KVAT regime, the six-year period introduced by later amendment could not be relied on where the original five-year limitation had already expired. Since the limitation for reopening the assessment had expired by 31.03.2019, the subsequent notice issued on 18.01.2020 was beyond time. On that basis, the reassessment proceedings were unsustainable.

Conclusion: The reopening notice and the consequential reassessment order were barred by limitation and could not be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Once the original limitation period for reopening an assessment has expired, a later amendment extending that period cannot retrospectively revive the power to reopen where the earlier period had already run out.

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