Return-filing obligation for Goods Transport Operator services cannot be enforced under section 73 for the pre-2003 period.

A show cause notice under section 73 of the Finance Act, 1994 for alleged non-filing of returns in respect of Goods Transport Operator services was not maintainable for the relevant pre-2003 period. The legal point was that, during that period, the obligation to file returns for recipients of such service had not yet been brought within section 70, and the later section 71A created that return-filing requirement only subsequently. On that basis, section 73 could not be used to sustain a notice for a default that was not then covered by the return-filing framework.

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Issues: Whether a show cause notice issued under section 73 of the Finance Act, 1994 for non-filing of returns in respect of Goods Transport Operator services availed during the relevant pre-2003 period was maintainable when the obligation to file returns arose only under section 71A of the Finance Act, 1994.

Analysis: The demand related to a period when the statutory obligation to file returns for recipients of Goods Transport Operator service had not yet been brought within section 70 of the Finance Act, 1994. The liability to file the return was cast only under section 71A, introduced later, and the Court followed the principle that section 73, during the relevant period, applied only to assessees liable to file returns under section 70. As the facts were identical to the previously accepted legal position, the notice could not validly be sustained under section 73 for the alleged default.

Conclusion: The show cause notice under section 73 was not maintainable against the assessee for the period in question.

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