https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=250250 The court held that Rule 5A(2) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, which allowed for a general audit, was ultra vires the Finance Act, 1994, as it exceeded the bounds of the statute. Consequently, Rule 5A(2) was struck down, along with the CBEC instruction that was based on it. The court emphasized that audits must adhere to statutory requirements, including providing prior notice and reasons to the assessee. The Service Tax Audit Manual, 2011, was deemed non-binding and could not justify the invalid provisions. The writ petition was allowed, and the challenged documents were quashed without costs. en-us Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0530 Mon, 22 Dec 2014 06:20:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=250250 The court held that Rule 5A(2) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, which allowed for a general audit, was ultra vires the Finance Act, 1994, as it exceeded the bounds of the statute. Consequently, Rule 5A(2) was struck down, along with the CBEC instruction that was based on it. The court emphasized that audits must adhere to statutory requirements, including providing prior notice and reasons to the assessee. The Service Tax Audit Manual, 2011, was deemed non-binding and could not justify the invalid provisions. The writ petition was allowed, and the challenged documents were quashed without costs. Case-Laws Service Tax Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=250250