JUDGMENT :

In these batch of writ petitions, the petitioner/assessees impugn the pre-assessment notices/assessment orders issued to them to complete assessments of escaped turnover by invoking the provisions of Section 42(3) of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act [hereinafter referred to as the “KVAT Act”]. It is the common case in all these writ petitions that the period envisaged for re-opening assessments under Section 25 of the KVAT Act had expired by the time the notices for re-opening assessments, invoking Section 42(3) of the KVAT Act, were issued to them. The petitioners therefore contend that in such cases, the Revenue cannot invoke Section 42(3) of the KVAT Act to re-open assessments that have already become final under the KVAT Act.

2. To appreciate the issue raised in these writ petitions, one has to first notice the statutory provisions under the KVAT Act. As per the Scheme of the KVAT Act, the assessment procedure commences with the filing of a return by the assessee. If the return filed by the assessee conforms to the requirement under the KVAT Act and Rules, in respect of the details of turnover to be furnished and the tax to be paid thereon, and there is no query raised b