2011 (7) TMI 51

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....ant states that it offers a comprehensive range of highly productive and new generation innovative offshore service vessels to global oil and gas industries. The vessels assist and support offshore drilling and marine operations. The applicant has entered into a time charter vessels hiring agreement on 26 April, 2006 for provisions of its offshore service vessels to Transocean Offshore International Ventures Ltd. (TOIVL) in India. TOIVL is providing various offshore drilling and support services to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC). For execution of the contract, TOIVL has entered into a uniform time charter vessel agreement with the applicant. Being a time charter agreement, the entire operation, navigation and management of the ....

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....ble to carry out such activities in isolation without the aid of services or facilities. The provision of service vessel by the applicant is thus an integral part of the entire process of offshore drilling activities and cannot be carried without the use of service vessel. It is contended that the services provided by the applicant are in connection with the activities of prospecting for mineral oil as envisaged under section 44BB of the Act. The applicant has relied on the ruling of this Authority in the case of Wavefield Inesis ASA, AAR 823 of 2009 wherein the income derived by provision of time charter seismic vessel is held to be computed under the computational mechanism of section 44BB of the Act and the effective rate at which the ta....

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....because it is not undertaking a mining or like project. Such project is undertaken by someone else and certain technical services are rendered by the applicant to the business enterprise that takes up the project. Section 44BB would come into play only if the applicant goes out of the purview of section 9(1) (vii) of the Act read with Explanation 2 thereof. It is submitted that though the amendment to section 44BB and 44DA was made effective from 1 April, 2011, the amendment is clarificatory in nature and should be read into the main provisions of section 44BB with effect from the time when section 44BB came into force in view of the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sedco Forex International Drill Inc. It is further submitte....