2012 (6) TMI 456

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....missioner Training and Coaching Service' and for the period from July 2003 to March 2007. 2. The appellant was engaged in the activity of providing training courses on English, German, French, etc. to enable the students to seek employment in Call Centres etc. They did not pay Service Tax on the fees collected from the students during the above period. When queried, they stated that they were under the impression that their activity fell in the category of Vocational Training Course and hence exempted from payment of Service Tax. However, they furnished a statement of the amounts of fees collected from the students during the said period. After completing investigations, the department issued a show-cause notice on 16.10.2008 invoking th....

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....onstitution of India does not contain mention of English language. It has been argued that English did not originate in India and does not become an Indian language by mere reason of its use for official purposes. It has also been submitted that the services rendered by the appellant in teaching foreign languages such as German, French and Japanese have been accepted by the department as exempted from Service Tax in terms of the aforesaid Notifications read with Board's Circular dated 20.6.2003. According to learned counsel, the same treatment should have been given to the services rendered by the appellant in teaching English language also. Learned counsel has also relied on a Stay Order passed by this Bench vide Apex Institute of English ....

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....t and stay of recovery are allowable in this case. On merits, the Stay Order passed by this Bench in the case of Apex Institute of English (supra) seems to be a precedent to be followed in the present case. In that case, this Bench prima facie did not agree with the Commissioner's view that English was not a foreign language. Learned SDR has not claimed that the above Stay Order has been challenged by the department. If English is to be considered as foreign language, the appellant can claim the benefit of exemption under Notifications No.9/2003-ST and No.24/2004-ST read with the Board's Circular No.59/8/2003-ST dated 20.6.2003. Apart from this, the appellant also seems to have an arguable case on limitation. It is not in dispute that they ....