Exemption notification interpretation and service tax liability fell within the section 35G exception, requiring appeal only to the Supreme Court.

An appeal under section 35G was held not maintainable where the dispute concerned interpretation of an exemption notification and the assessee's liability to service tax, because the issue related to the rate of duty or value for assessment. That statutory category falls within the exception to section 35G and attracts the exclusive appellate route under section 35L. As a result, the High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, and the proper forum was the Supreme Court.

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Issues: Whether an appeal under section 35G was maintainable when the dispute related to interpretation of an exemption notification and to the liability to service tax, a question having a relation to the rate of duty or value for assessment.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the construction of Notification No. 12/2003-ST and the taxability of the services rendered by the assessee. Such a question fell within the statutory exception to section 35G, namely matters relating to the determination of any question having a relation to the rate of duty or to the value of goods for purposes of assessment. In that situation, the High Court lacked jurisdiction and the appeal lay to the Supreme Court under section 35L, which provides the exclusive forum for such questions.

Conclusion: The appeal was not maintainable before the High Court and could not be entertained.

Final Conclusion: The proceeding was dismissed at the threshold for want of jurisdiction, leaving the assessee to pursue the remedy before the Supreme Court.

Ratio Decidendi: A dispute that falls within the statutory exception for questions relating to the rate of duty or value for assessment cannot be entertained under section 35G and must be carried in appeal only under the provision conferring exclusive jurisdiction on the Supreme Court.

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