Road construction exemption under service tax notification required proof of public use; matter remanded for fresh factual examination.

Exemption from service tax under Notification No. 25/2012-ST for road construction depended on whether the roads were meant for general public use, because the exemption did not extend to private or internal roads serving only a limited group. The record showed the appellant had not effectively placed material before the adjudicating authority to establish public use, while the work order and related documents suggested the project was undertaken for a development authority. As the factual nature of the work and the use of the roads remained unresolved, the exemption issue could not be finally decided on the existing record and was remanded for fresh examination by the original authority.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to exemption from service tax under Notification No. 25/2012-ST for construction of roads, and whether the matter required remand for fresh examination of the nature of the work order and the use of the roads.

Analysis: The claim turned on whether the roads constructed under the work order were meant for use by the general public, since the exemption for road construction applies only where the utility is public and not private or confined to residents of a complex. The record showed that the appellant had not participated before the adjudicating authority and had not produced material accepted below to establish that the internal roads were for general public use. At the same time, the work order and surrounding documents were relied upon to contend that the construction was undertaken for a government development authority, making the factual nature of the project relevant to eligibility under the notification. In these circumstances, the issue of exemption could not be finally determined on the existing record and required reconsideration by the original authority.

Conclusion: The matter was remanded to the adjudicating authority to decide afresh whether the road construction qualified for exemption under the notification.

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