JUDGMENT :

S.V. Bhatti, J.

‘A stitch in time saves nine’

is a proverb that means if you sort out a problem immediately, it may later save a lot of extra time and work. Sections 20 to 39 of Chapter V and Section 6 of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (for short ‘the VAT Act’) provide for different obligations on the Dealer and the Officers in filing returns, assessment, recovery of tax, or alternatively penalty etc., for an alleged act of commission or omission by the Dealers covered by the VAT Act. For reasons, nay bona fide reasons, the enforcing machinery could not perform its duties and functions in reassessment etc., within the timelines of the VAT Act. Resulting in a slew of amendments to the VAT Act, and in the batch of appeals, the Court is concerned with the amendments made to Section 42(3) of the VAT Act by the Kerala Finance Act 2016 (for short ‘Act 18/2016’).

2. We have heard Mr Mohammed Rafiq learned Special Government Pleader (Taxes), and Mr Shamsudheen, learned Senior Government Pleader for the State/appellants, learned Advocates A Kumar, Abdul Azees, Sreekumar, An