Assessee's Appeal Granted, Penalties Set Aside under Section 80

The Tribunal allowed the assessee's appeal, excluding free issue of diesel for service tax levy, following a precedent. The decision to set aside penalties under Section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994, was upheld, leading to the appeal's success. The Revenue's appeal was dismissed, resolving the issues raised by both parties.

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Issues Involved:
1. Appeal for early hearing of appeal
2. Dropping of penalties in the impugned order
3. Exclusion of free issue of diesel for levy of service tax
4. Invocation of Section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994
5. Final decision on appeals filed by both Revenue and assessee

Analysis:

1. The applicant filed a Misc. Application for early hearing of the appeal. The Tribunal noted that the Revenue had also filed an appeal against the impugned order on similar facts. Consequently, both appeals were taken up for final hearing by allowing the Misc. Application.

2. Both the Revenue and the assessee had filed appeals against the impugned order dated 31.05.2012. The Revenue contended that the dropping of penalties was not in line with the Service Tax Statute. On the other hand, the assessee's appeal was based on the argument that the free issue of diesel for rendering on-site formation service should be excluded for determining the value for service tax levy.

3. After hearing both parties and examining the records, the Tribunal referred to a previous decision in the case of the appellant. In that decision, it was held that the free supply of diesel should not be included in the value of service for determining service tax liability. Consequently, the appeal of the assessee was allowed, following the precedent set by the Coordinate Bench decision.

4. The Tribunal acknowledged that the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) had appropriately applied Section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994, to set aside the penalties against the Respondent. This decision was upheld, leading to the setting aside of the impugned order and allowing the appeal in favor of the appellant. The appeal filed by the Revenue was dismissed.

5. In conclusion, the Tribunal's final decision was to allow the appeal of the assessee based on the exclusion of free diesel supply for service tax valuation. It also upheld the decision to set aside penalties against the Respondent under Section 80 of the Finance Act, 1994. The appeal filed by the Revenue was dismissed, bringing a resolution to the issues raised by both parties in the appeals before the Tribunal.

This detailed analysis of the judgment provides a comprehensive overview of the issues involved and the Tribunal's decision on each matter, maintaining the legal terminology and significant details from the original text.

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