Section 71A limits service tax recovery where notice under Section 73 is not maintainable for reverse charge recipients.

For goods transport operator service tax under the reverse charge regime, proceedings against recipients covered by Section 71A could not be sustained through a show cause notice issued under Section 73. The earlier Supreme Court-approved line of authority, including L.H. Sugar Factories Ltd. and Gujarat Carbon & Industries Ltd., established that assessees specifically placed under Section 71A were outside the Section 73 machinery for demand notices. A later contrary High Court decision was treated as inapplicable on the facts because the controlling legal position remained governed by the earlier binding rulings.

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Issues: Whether service tax demand against the recipient of goods transport operator service was sustainable when the show cause notice was issued under Section 73, in view of the statutory scheme under Sections 70 and 71A and the earlier Supreme Court ruling on the same issue.

Analysis: The demand arose from service tax on goods transport operator services for a period covered by the reverse charge regime. The Tribunal noted that the earlier decision in L.H. Sugar Factories Ltd. had held that persons covered by Section 71A were not brought within the net of Section 73, and therefore notices issued under Section 73 were not maintainable. That view had been affirmed by the Supreme Court, and the subsequent decision in Gujarat Carbon & Industries Ltd. also followed the same principle. The contrary reliance placed on a later High Court decision was held to be inapplicable on the facts, as the controlling issue remained covered by the earlier binding rulings.

Conclusion: The show cause notice under Section 73 was not maintainable for the recipient category covered by Section 71A, and the service tax demand could not be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory obligation to file returns and bear liability is specifically placed under Section 71A, proceedings for service tax demand cannot be sustained by invoking Section 73 against that class of assessees.

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