In Brief
Five Special Leave Petitions challenge High Court orders quashing audit assessment orders under the Orissa Value Added Tax Act, 2004. The key issue is whether a Commissioner may extend an Assessing Authority's assessment deadline (Section 42(6)) after the initial six-month period expires, or only before expiry. The High Court applied the principle from Shreyans Industries (Punjab General Sales Tax Act case), which held that extension powers must be exercised before limitation periods expire. The Supreme Court (2-Judge Bench) found the Shreyans principle potentially applicable but identified significant interpretative and administrative law distinctions. The Court referred all five cases to a three-Judge Bench to comprehensively reconsider the principle's applicability to the Orissa VAT provisions.
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