Liability of service tax / GST - service rendered to Haj...

Liability of service tax / GST - service rendered to Haj pilgrims - Discrimination between HGOs and the Haj Committees - The Haj Committees are the agencies and instrumentalities of the State. Apart from arranging visits of Haj pilgrims for the purposes of Haj pilgrimage, there are important statutory duties assigned to the Haj Committee - the Central Government has all pervasive control over the Haj Committee. The State Governments have the same control over the State Committee. On the other hand, there are no onerous duties attached to HGOs. They earn profit by rendering service to Haj pilgrims. Except for the stringent conditions for the registration, the Government has no control over HGOs. - The arguments based on discrimination have no substance at all, as HGOs and the Haj Committees do not stand on par - SC

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