Retrospective service tax amendments justified prima facie waiver of pre-deposit and stay of recovery in recipient-liability dispute.

Retrospective changes to the service tax scheme, including the definitions of assessee and the person liable to collect tax, were held relevant to the appellant's prima facie challenge to a recipient-based demand. The Tribunal accepted, for interim purposes, that precedent cited by the appellant supported its case on the sustainability of the demand. On that basis, it found a prima facie case for waiver of pre-deposit and stayed recovery of the demand pending disposal of the appeal.

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Issues: Whether the appellant made out a prima facie case for waiver of pre-deposit and stay of recovery in a service tax demand arising from retrospective amendments and the liability of the recipient of service.

Analysis: The demand related to a period during which the statutory scheme for service tax liability, the definition of assessee, the person liable to collect tax, and the obligation to file returns had undergone multiple retrospective changes. The Tribunal noted that the appellant relied on decisions holding that similar recipient-based liability and recovery demands were not sustainable in the facts then under consideration. On the material before it, the Tribunal found the appellant's reliance on those decisions to be prima facie acceptable for the purpose of interim relief.

Conclusion: The appellant was found to have made out a case for waiver of pre-deposit, and recovery of the demand was stayed pending disposal of the appeal.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the assessees' liability depends on a retrospectively altered service tax scheme and binding precedent prima facie supports their case, pre-deposit can be waived and recovery stayed at the interim stage.

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