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2007 (6) TMI 504
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....sore City Corporation. They let out the Town Hall of the Corporation for cultural functions and organising of Political events. The second appellant is Kalamandir, Deptt. of Kannada & Culture, Government of Karnataka. They have a hall named 'Kalamandir' for organising various functions, events and activities on temporary basis. Revenue proceeded against both the appellants for non-payment of Service tax under the category of 'Mandap Keeper'. The appellants were aggrieved over the order of the lower authority and approached the Commissioner (Appeals). The Commissioner (Appeals) passed the impugned orders upholding the orders of the original authority. Aggrieved over the order of the Commissioner (Appeals), the appellants have come before thi....
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....ibunal) = 2007 (79) RLT 500 (CESTAT-Bang) and said that the same is not binding and clearly distinguishable since the said decision has been rendered in a situation when the term 'social function' was not clarified by any explanation inserted in the Act itself and hence in the present context the same would be no longer a good law. The decision in the ADA Rangamandira Trust case has not considered the other activities (as distinct from functions like dance, drama, film shooting etc.) as not falling within the purview of social function for levy of Service tax under the category of Mandap keeper. (iii) In respect of appeal ST/44/2006, the period of demand is from 1-4-2000 to 31-8-2004 as suppression,&nb....
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....annot be said to have been let out for organizing any official, social or business functions. The word 'function' has been used just to mean ceremonies and it cannot be taken to mean that it would include all activities which are in the nature of promoting culture, language like Kannada language, dance, drama etc. The scope of the term 'social function' can be only such functions where there is a get together of individuals (whether relatives, friends or others) like a birthday party, marriage, house warming ceremony, kitty party, etc. The term 'social' has been defined in Standard Dictionaries to mean involving allies or confederates marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with one's friends or associates'. Thus, when it is not invol....
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....n'. According to him, in social functions, there is a meeting of known people. He has given the examples of marriage, house warming ceremony, kitty party, birthday party, etc.. He has also referred to the Explanation inserted in the Finance Act. The Explanation reads as follows:- "Explanation:- For the purpose of this clause, "social function" includes 'marriage'. " The learned Advocate has come to the conclusion that social function, as far as the Finance Act, 2007 is concerned, means only marriage and similar functions. We are afraid that the above conclusion is not correct. The explanation says that social function includes marriage. Since it is an inclusive definition, social function is not restricted to marriage alone. Therefore....
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.... the Town Hall/Kalamandir are given on rent. The learned Advocate makes a fine distinction between 'cultural event' and 'social function'. According to him, organizing a dance or drama cannot be called as organizing a social function. In his view, the meaning of social function cannot be stretched to include what the legislature has not intended. In the Rangamandira decision, relying on the Board's clarification of 1997, we held that programmes of dance, drama and music are social functions. According to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 'function' means 'a social event or official ceremony'. The term 'social function' is very comprehensive. Cultural events are only a subset of social functions. In our view, any cultural event would ....
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....iety and is an integral part of our social ethos and is infact a form of social intercourse. Programmes of dance, drama and music are social function. In case rental is being charged by the owner or caretaker of any premises for holding such functions, they are liable to pay Service tax. Apparently, such renting out of premises is for a monetary consideration and thus has a pecuniary aspect. In case no charges/rental is being paid i.e. the premises are given out free of cost to hold such function, there would be no Service tax liability. 5.3 As regards Kannada film shooting and political meetings, it is very clear that they cannot be considered as social functions. Therefore, such instances have to be excluded from the levy of Servi....