Conflicting coordinate Bench decisions on whether bank commitment charges for keeping sanctioned loan funds available are exigible to service tax required a Larger Bench reference. One view treated the charges as consideration for the bank's contractual commitment to lend, with a clear quid pro quo and no character as interest; the other view, invoking judicial discipline, found that earlier coordinate decisions could not be ignored and that the matter should be placed before the President for constitution of a Larger Bench. The substantive taxability question, along with the precedential effect of the appellant's earlier case, was left open for authoritative determination.
Conflicting coordinate Bench decisions on whether bank commitment charges for keeping sanctioned loan funds available are exigible to service tax required a Larger Bench reference. One view treated the charges as consideration for the bank's contractual commitment to lend, with a clear quid pro quo and no character as interest; the other view, invoking judicial discipline, found that earlier coordinate decisions could not be ignored and that the matter should be placed before the President for constitution of a Larger Bench. The substantive taxability question, along with the precedential effect of the appellant's earlier case, was left open for authoritative determination.
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