TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2013 (10) TMI 582
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....ry of 'Commercial Coaching & Training Services'. He paid Service Tax amounting to Rs.1,40,180/- during the period 21.1.2004 to 18.10.2004. Subsequently, he filed a refund claim dated 16.11.2004 on the ground that 'Coaching in Spoken English' comes under the category of 'Coaching in Foreign Languages' and is exempted from Service Tax vide notification no. 9/2003-ST dated 20.06.2003. The said refund claim was considered by the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner, who observed that as per Article 343 of the Indian Constitution, English is an official language and, therefore, it does not come under the category of foreign language. Therefore, he held that 'coaching in English' does not come under the category of Vocational Training and, there....
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....proved their employability. (iv) The appellant has also produced a letter from Retired Professor Shridhar B. Gokhle, wherein he has certified that the course conducted by the appellant is directly related to employability of the student. (v) Reliance is placed on the advertisement issued by the appellant, wherein it has been specifically stated that the course is for "English in Call Centers". In the light of the above, it is contended that the appellant is eligible for the benefit of Notification no. 9/2003-ST. Reliance has also been placed on the decisions of this Tribunal in the case of ICM English Centre vs. Commissioner of Service Tax, Bangalore - 2012 (26) STR 157 (Tri-Bang.). In the light of this, it is t....
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....p; (ii) "computer training institute" means a commercial training or coaching centre which provides coaching or training relating to computer software or hardware; (iii) "recreational training institute" means a commercial training or coaching centre which provides coaching or training relating to recreational activities such as dance, singing, martial arts, hobbies. 2. This notification shall come into force on the 1st day of July, 2003 and shall remain in force upto and inclusive of the 29th day of February, 2004." This notification was succeeded by Notification no. 24/2004-ST dated 10.09.2004, which also extended the exemption to taxable services provided ....
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....ty in future. Similarly, the certificate issued by the retired Professor merely states that the training imparted is directly related to employability of students. These certificates have been obtained very recently and, therefore, the evidentiary value of these certificates is suspect. The certificates produced are not from any employers who have found that the training imparts skills making the trainees suitable for employment in their firms. 5.4 The reliance placed on this Tribunal's decision in the case of ICM English Centre (supra) also does not help as the view taken in the said case was a prima facie view at the time of considering grant of stay and, therefore, there is no precedential value for the said decision. 5.5 In the presen....
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....no. DGE & T-19(4)/2011-CD-Pt dated 19.06.2013 issued by the Government of India in this regard. 5.7. Thus, if the apex body dealing with vocational training in India itself does not consider training in languages as vocational training, it is not conceivable how training in languages can be treated as a vocational training for the purpose of Notification no. 9/2003-ST or it's successor Notification no. 24/2004. The clarification issued by the Board also would not matter as the taxability is determined not by the Circulars or notifications, but by the provisions of law. It is an accepted principle of statutory interpretation that the notification has to be interpreted strictly since it is in the nature of an exception. The Hon'ble Apex Cour....