Service tax on Pandal or Shamiyana services excluded for religious congregation at Magh Mela; mandamus relief refused.

Pandal or Shamiyana services supplied in the Magh Mela area were treated as falling outside service tax because the activity related to a pure religious fair and congregation, and the departmental clarification excluded such religious use from tax. The statutory definitions of Mandap and Mandap keeper were held inapplicable because the services involved temporary tents and allied arrangements for a religious gathering, not official, social, or business functions. The tax demand was therefore not sustainable, although the petitioner was not granted the mandamus sought against the respondent officer.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner, being a Pandal or Shamiyana contractor for the Magh Mela area, was liable to service tax as a Mandap keeper or whether the services fell within the clarification excluding pure religious ceremonies and congregation from service tax.

Analysis: Service tax was made applicable to Pandal or Shamiyana services under the Finance Act, 1994, but the relevant departmental circular clarified that such services provided for pure religious ceremonies or congregation were not liable to service tax. The definitions of Mandap and Mandap keeper concerned temporary occupation of a mandap for official, social or business functions, which did not fit the petitioner's activity of supplying tents and allied services for the Magh Mela. The statutory scheme of the United Provinces Mela Act, 1938 and the Mela Rules showed that the Magh Mela was a religious fair or religious gathering, and the work undertaken in that area was for a religious congregation.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not liable to service tax for the services provided in the Magh Mela area, and the respondent officer was not liable to pay service tax to the petitioner. The writ relief sought by the petitioner was therefore refused.

Final Conclusion: The dispute was resolved by holding that the Magh Mela arrangement fell within the religious congregation clarification, so the tax demand could not be sustained against the services in question, but the petitioner was not entitled to the mandamus sought against the respondent officer.

Ratio Decidendi: Pandal or Shamiyana services rendered for a pure religious fair or congregation are outside service tax liability where the statutory definitions of Mandap keeper do not cover the activity and the governing circular excludes such religious use.

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