Pre-deposit waiver granted where service tax exemption was denied for absence of declaration on each consignment note.

Notification No. 32/2004-S.T. exemption was denied because the prescribed declaration was not shown on each consignment note, despite the appellant's claim that yearly declarations had been filed and were supported by a Chartered Accountant's certificate. At the pre-deposit stage, this was treated as a strong prima facie case, indicating that the denial rested on a contestable procedural compliance issue rather than a settled liability. Waiver of pre-deposit was granted and the stay petition was allowed.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to waiver of pre-deposit in respect of the service tax demand when the benefit of Notification No. 32/2004-S.T. dated 03.12.2004 was denied only because the declaration was not made on each consignment note.

Analysis: The notification benefit had been denied solely on the ground that the required declaration did not appear on the consignment notes, although the appellant asserted that the declarations were filed on a yearly basis and supported by a Chartered Accountant's certificate. On this basis, the appellant was found to have a strong case at the stage of considering pre-deposit.

Conclusion: Waiver of pre-deposit was granted and the stay petition was allowed.

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