https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=790590 Construction of canals under a turnkey/EPC contract for Government irrigation or drinking-water projects was treated as falling outside taxable Works Contract Service because the activity was for non-commercial, non-industrial purposes and the binding larger-bench classification excluded such canal work from service tax under the relevant Finance Act provision. The exemption notification for canal construction was held prospective only and not retrospectively applicable, but that did not affect liability once the activity itself was found non-taxable on merits. As a result, the service tax demand, penalty, and related consequences were set aside. en-us Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:49:37 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=790590 Construction of canals under a turnkey/EPC contract for Government irrigation or drinking-water projects was treated as falling outside taxable Works Contract Service because the activity was for non-commercial, non-industrial purposes and the binding larger-bench classification excluded such canal work from service tax under the relevant Finance Act provision. The exemption notification for canal construction was held prospective only and not retrospectively applicable, but that did not affect liability once the activity itself was found non-taxable on merits. As a result, the service tax demand, penalty, and related consequences were set aside. Case-Laws Service Tax Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=790590