2013 (6) TMI 106

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....11 vide KASEZ's letter dated 21.01.2011 and they had filed ST-1 on 12.06.2009 and got Service Tax registration from Service Tax department on 25.08.09 having registration No.AACCB7065RST001. The appellants filed a refund claim of Rs. 56,316/- on 06.07.2010 in terms of Notification No.09/2009-ST dated 03.03.2009 as amended vide Notification No.15/2009-ST dated 20.05.2009. In pursuance to the said notification the appellants were asked to follow the procedure of claiming refund of service tax paid on specified services; subsequently vide Notification No.15/2009-ST, the provisions were partially changed and the services which were wholly consumed within the SEZ were exempted from payment of service tax, thereby excluded from following the ....

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..... He would draw my attention to the judgment of the co-ordinate Bench of the Tribunal in the case of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd 2012-TIOL-1034-CESTAT-MUM. 5. Ld.D.R., on the other hand, would submit that the service tax paid on the Management, Maintenance & Repair services is wholly consumed in the SEZ and is not eligible for claiming as refund, as the said services would have been provided by the service provider, without charge of Service Tax as the appellant is in SEZ. It is his submission that since the services are wholly consumed, they are not eligible for refund of the amount of the Service Tax paid. 6. I have considered the submissions made by both sides and perused the records. 7. On perusal of the records, I find that ....

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....ttee. Once the Approval Committee has given the nexus and the justification, it was totally unwarranted on the part of the adjudicating authority and the appellate authority to go into this question and come to their own findings in the matter. Therefore, rejection by the lower authorities of the refund claims of the service tax paid on various services on this ground is bad in law and is accordingly set aside. 6.2 Coming to the next question, whether in respect of the services which were wholly consumed and which were fully exempt from payment of duty, whether the appellants can be granted refund under Notification No. 09/2009-ST dated 3.3.2009 as amended by Notification No. 15/2009-ST dated 20.5.2009 through which amendment a condition....

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....is case, there is no dispute that the services were provided in relation to the authorized operations of the appellant within the SEZ. From the records it is seen that the appellant has filed the refund claim within the time period provided for in Section 11B and the appellant has borne the incidence of taxation. 6.3 Services provided to a SEZ or unit in the SEZ is deemed as export as per the provisions of Section 2 (m) (ii) of the SEZ Act, 2005 and as per Rule 31 of the SEZ Rules, 2006, the appellants are entitled for exemption from payment of service tax on the services which are used or provided to a unit in the SEZ. As per Section 51 of the said SEZ Act, the said provisions prevail over the provisions contained in any other law for t....