The Karnataka High Court has quashed show cause notices and adjudication orders issued by the Central Tax authorities in two companion writ petitions, holding that where the State Tax Authority had already initiated prior proceedings on the same subject matter and for the same tax periods, the Central authorities could not have proceeded in parallel under Section 6(2)(b) of the CGST Act. The court further held that culmination of proceedings under Section 74 after an adjudication order under Section 73 on the same issue is incongruous and the Section 74 proceedings had to be quashed. The rulings by Justice B.M. Shyam Prasad in WP Nos. 14205/2026, 23111/2026 and 23296/2026 (M/s Sri Vinayaka Electricals, decided 29.08.2026) and in the companion WP Nos. 14145/2026 and 23152/2026 (same petitioner, also decided 29.08.2026) provide a practical application of the statutory prohibition against overlapping proceedings.
In the first set of petitions, the State Tax Authority had issued SCNs under Sections 73 and 74 for FY 2019-20 and 2021-22, followed by the Central Tax Authority issuing its own SCN under Section 74 for the same periods. Both the State and Central counsels conceded that under Section 6(2)(b), the Central proceedings could not survive. In the second set, two different State Tax officers had issued parallel SCNs — one under Section 74 (by the DGSTO) and another under Section 73 (by the Enforcement officer) — for overlapping periods, with the Section 73 adjudication order coming first. The court held the subsequent Section 74 proceedings incongruous. In both cases, the surviving State Tax proceedings were remanded for fresh consideration with the petitioner directed to file replies and deposit 10% of the tax in demand.
- 2026-juristway.com-2496-HC(Karnataka)-GST; 2497-HC(Karnataka)-GST | High Court of Karnataka | WP Nos. 14205, 23111, 23296, 14145 & 23152 of 2026 | 29.08.2026