https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=331791 The HC held that DGCEI lacks authority to arrest officials without following the procedure under Sections 73A(3) and (4) of the Finance Act, 1994. Arrest powers under Sections 90 and 91 require prior adjudication or enquiry, including issuance of an SCN, which was absent here. Mere suspicion of service tax evasion or failure to deposit collected tax is insufficient for coercive action. The petitioners, who regularly filed returns accepted by the ST Department, cannot be subjected to arrest without due process. Payment of alleged service tax arrears made during DGCEI's search, without adjudication, was not voluntary and must be refunded. The court ruled in favor of the petitioners, restraining DGCEI from bypassing statutory procedures before arrest or coercive recovery. en-us Thu, 01 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:02:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=331791 The HC held that DGCEI lacks authority to arrest officials without following the procedure under Sections 73A(3) and (4) of the Finance Act, 1994. Arrest powers under Sections 90 and 91 require prior adjudication or enquiry, including issuance of an SCN, which was absent here. Mere suspicion of service tax evasion or failure to deposit collected tax is insufficient for coercive action. The petitioners, who regularly filed returns accepted by the ST Department, cannot be subjected to arrest without due process. Payment of alleged service tax arrears made during DGCEI's search, without adjudication, was not voluntary and must be refunded. The court ruled in favor of the petitioners, restraining DGCEI from bypassing statutory procedures before arrest or coercive recovery. Case-Laws Service Tax Thu, 01 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=331791