JUDGMENT

Ramachandra Menon , J.

A common thread connects all these cases and hence they have been grouped together and heard accordingly. The question to be considered is, whether the assessment under the Central Sales Tax Act ['CST Act' in short] could be completed by the authorities of the Department of Commercial Taxes of the State availing the extended time for the relevant year, in terms of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act/Rules ['KGST Act/Rules' in short], tracing the source of power to Section 9 (2) of the CST Act, Rule 6 (5) of the CST [Kerala] Rules, Section 17 of the KGST Act, Section 25 of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act [KVAT Act in short] and the relevant Rules thereunder.

2. The appellant in the Writ Appeal is a limited Company engaged in the manufacture of refined, bleached and deodorised palm oil [RDB Palm Oil] and a registered dealer on the rolls of the second respondent for the purpose of assessment under the KGST Act, CST Act and KVAT Act. In respect of the assessment year 2003-04, returns were filed by the assessee, disclosing a total interstate sales turnover of Rs. 77,77,79,4446.50 and claimed exemption on the turnover of Rs.77,08,88,957.81, being consignment sale