Adjudication under Sections 73 and 74 is dispute-based and is...

Adjudication under Sections 73 and 74 is dispute-based and is not confined to a single financial year or tax period; a composite notice may validly cover multiple periods, and under Section 74 may include multiple noticees, subject to objections in individual proceedings. However, Section 6(2)(b) bars parallel proceedings on the same subject-matter once formal adjudication has begun, so overlapping proceedings were held unsustainable. The statutory timelines for issuing notice and passing the adjudication order were treated as mandatory, making notices issued without the prescribed lead time time-barred. One notice could not support separate orders by different authorities absent lawful transfer, and a direction to withhold payment was set aside for lack of statutory authority.

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