High Court upholds validity of Finance Act sections, petitioner plans special leave petition

The High Court dismissed the petition challenging the validity of Sections 65(105)(zzq) and 65(105)(zzzh) of the Finance Act, 1994 as amended by the Finance Act, 2010 under constitutional provisions. The court referred to a previous judgment on a related case and upheld the validity of the sections. The petitioner's counsel indicated that the service tax liability would be discharged under protest, and the petitioner planned to file a special leave petition to challenge the High Court's decision.

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Issues involved: Challenge to the validity of Sections 65(105)(zzq) and 65(105)(zzzh) of the Finance Act, 1994 as amended by the Finance Act, 2010 under Articles 14, 246, and 265 of the Constitution of India and Section 66 of the Finance Act.

The petitioner filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a declaration that Sections 65(105)(zzq) and 65(105)(zzzh) of the Finance Act, 1994 as amended by the Finance Act, 2010 are null and void and violative of constitutional provisions. The petitioner challenged the validity of these sections under Articles 14, 246, and 265 of the Constitution of India and as ultra vires of Section 66 of the Finance Act.

The High Court noted that the controversy raised in this petition was already addressed in a judgment dated 19th/20th January, 2012, by another Division Bench of the Court in a related case (Writ Petition No.1456 of 2010 and cognate petitions). In line with the previous decision, the present petition was also dismissed.

Following the dismissal of the petition, the petitioner's counsel indicated that the service tax liability would be discharged under protest and without prejudice to their rights and contentions. The petitioner planned to file a special leave petition to challenge the High Court's decision.

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