Prima facie service tax credit on GTA services supported by transport documents justified interim waiver and stay.

Service tax credit on GTA services was treated as prima facie admissible where the appellant had paid the tax as recipient of the service and the supporting transport documents contained the relevant particulars for each credit entry. The objection was only technical, namely that the prescribed documents were not produced in the stated form. On that basis, the appellant established a case for interim relief, and waiver of the adjudged dues was granted with recovery stayed pending disposal of the appeal.

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Issues: Whether waiver of the adjudged dues and stay of recovery were justified where the appellant had availed credit of service tax paid on GTA services on the basis of transport documents containing the relevant particulars.

Analysis: The demand related to credit which was prima facie admissible. The objection was only that the credit had been taken without the prescribed documents. The record showed that the service tax had in fact been paid by the appellant as recipient of the service and that the necessary particulars were available in the transport documents relating to each credit entry. In these circumstances, the appellant had made out a case for interim relief.

Conclusion: Waiver of the adjudged dues was allowed and recovery was stayed pending disposal of the appeal.

Ratio Decidendi: Where entitlement to credit is prima facie established and the relevant particulars are available in the supporting transport documents, interim waiver and stay may be granted despite a technical objection regarding the form of documentation.

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