Commissioner's lack of review power under service tax law made appeal directions without jurisdiction and unsustainable.

Retrospective amendments in the Finance Act, 2000 revived service tax demands that had earlier been dropped after the Supreme Court decision in Laghu Udyog Bharati. However, the statutory scheme did not confer power on the Commissioner under Section 84 of the Finance Act, 1994 to review orders of subordinate authorities and direct the filing of appeals. Directions issued on that assumed basis were without jurisdiction, and appeals instituted pursuant to them were therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the Commissioner had power to review the order of the lower authority and direct filing of appeals under the service tax provisions, and whether appeals filed pursuant to such directions were maintainable.

Analysis: The retrospective amendments made by the Finance Act, 2000 revived the service tax demands that had been dropped following the Supreme Court decision in Laghu Udyog Bharati. However, the statutory scheme did not confer on the Commissioner any power under Section 84 of the Finance Act, 1994 to review orders passed by subordinate authorities and direct them to file appeals. The directions issued in exercise of such assumed power were therefore without jurisdiction, and the appeals instituted on that basis were equally unsustainable.

Conclusion: The directions to file appeals were illegal and without jurisdiction, and the appeals filed by the assessee were allowed.

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