https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=792315 Mandatory Net Present Value charges paid into the Compensatory Afforestation Fund as a statutory condition for forest clearance were held not to constitute consideration for a taxable service because they arose by operation of law, involved no consensual or commercial quid pro quo, and were earmarked for ecological conservation. The grant of forest clearance was also held not to be a declared service, since a sovereign regulatory permission is not an agreement to tolerate an act or situation. On that basis, the service tax demand failed, and the associated interest, penalties, and extended limitation invocation could not survive absent suppression, misstatement, or fraud. en-us Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 27 May 2026 07:29:08 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=792315 Mandatory Net Present Value charges paid into the Compensatory Afforestation Fund as a statutory condition for forest clearance were held not to constitute consideration for a taxable service because they arose by operation of law, involved no consensual or commercial quid pro quo, and were earmarked for ecological conservation. The grant of forest clearance was also held not to be a declared service, since a sovereign regulatory permission is not an agreement to tolerate an act or situation. On that basis, the service tax demand failed, and the associated interest, penalties, and extended limitation invocation could not survive absent suppression, misstatement, or fraud. Case-Laws Service Tax Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=792315