GTA exemption cannot be denied for omission on each consignment note where non-availment declarations were otherwise furnished.

Exemption under the GTA service tax notification could not be denied merely because the non-availment of CENVAT credit declaration was not repeated on each consignment note. The Tribunal held that where declarations were already furnished on the GTA's letterhead and produced before the lower authorities, the substantive condition of the notification was satisfied. Reliance on the departmental circular did not justify rejection of the benefit in the face of consistent co-ordinate Bench rulings. The demand was therefore unsustainable and the impugned order was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the service tax demand under the GTA exemption notification could be sustained when the assessee had furnished declarations of non-availment of CENVAT credit, though not on each consignment note, and whether denial of the benefit was justified on that ground.

Analysis: The demand had been confirmed solely because individual declarations were not recorded on every consignment note, with reliance placed on the departmental circular. The Tribunal noted that declarations from the road lines had been produced before the lower authorities and that the same circular had already been considered in a similar matter. It further noted that co-ordinate Benches had consistently held that where the GTA had filed a declaration on its letterhead regarding non-availment of CENVAT credit, the benefit of the exemption notification should not be denied. Since the declaration had in fact been filed in the present case, the objection was not sustainable.

Conclusion: The denial of the exemption was unjustified and the demand could not be sustained.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the assessee's appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the substantive declaration regarding non-availment of CENVAT credit has been furnished, the exemption cannot be denied merely because the declaration is not repeated on each consignment note.

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