Transport service abatement depends on notification conditions alone, not on extra declaration requirements in consignment notes.

Notification No. 32/2004-ST required that the transport agency should not have availed the benefit of Notification No. 12/2003-ST or taken credit on inputs or capital goods, but it did not require that this declaration be printed on consignment notes. Board circulars could not introduce an additional condition beyond the notification itself. Where declarations from major transporters showed compliance and the show cause notice contained no contrary evidence, entitlement to the exemption was substantially established and the demand was held unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to the 75% abatement under Notification No. 32/2004-ST despite the absence of a declaration on the consignment notes that the transport agency had not availed the benefit of Notification No. 12/2003-ST or taken credit on inputs or capital goods.

Analysis: The exemption under Notification No. 32/2004-ST was subject to the condition that the transport agency should not have taken credit on inputs or capital goods and should not have availed the benefit of Notification No. 12/2003-ST. The notification itself did not require the declaration to be printed on the consignment notes. The assessee produced declarations from major transporters showing compliance. The circulars issued by the Board could not add a condition that was not found in the notification. In the absence of evidence in the show cause notice to show non-fulfilment of the notification conditions, the assessee was held to have substantially established entitlement to the exemption.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 32/2004-ST and the demand was unsustainable.

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