Appellate jurisdiction over service tax dispute turned on retrospective effect of notification, not rate or taxability.

A challenge concerning service tax on drilling activities in the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone turned on whether the dispute involved rate of duty or taxability for appellate jurisdiction. Because the assessee accepted that the services were taxable and that the applicable rate was not in dispute, the only issue was whether the 27 February 2010 notification could operate retrospectively from 7 July 2009. The matter was therefore held not to fall within the category of questions relating to rate of duty or taxability, and the preliminary objection to the appeal's maintainability was rejected; the appeal was maintainable before the High Court.

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Issues: Whether the appeal lay to the High Court or to the Supreme Court under the jurisdictional provisions governing appeals involving questions relating to rate of duty or taxability, and whether the Revenue's preliminary objection to maintainability was sustainable.

Analysis: The appeal concerned service tax on drilling activities carried out in the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone of India for the period between 7 July 2009 and 27 February 2010. The disputed question was not the rate of tax, valuation, classification, or the taxability of services as such, since the assessee did not dispute that the services were taxable or the rate at which tax was leviable. The only controversy was whether the notification of 27 February 2010, which extended the service tax levy to such drilling activities, could operate retrospectively from 7 July 2009. On that basis, the matter did not fall within the category of cases relating to determination of any question having a relation to the rate of duty or taxability for purposes of assessment.

Conclusion: The preliminary objection was rejected, and the High Court held that the appeal was maintainable before it.

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