2019 (6) TMI 779

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....ding service tax under (1) Commercial or Industrial Construction Service and (2) Management, Maintenance or Repair Service. The demand was raised invoking the extended period under the proviso to section 73(1) of the Finance Act, 1994. It was also proposed to charge interest under section 75 and impose penalties under sections 76, 77 & 78 of the Finance Act, 1994. After following due process, the lower authority confirmed a demand of Rs. 10,99,602/- under Commercial or Industrial Construction Service and appropriated an amount of Rs. 9,20,046/- already paid by the assessee towards the same. She also confirmed a demand of Rs. 20,01,531/- on Management, Maintenance or Repair service. In addition, she confirmed a demand of interest under secti....

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....ble to service tax. Therefore, the first appellate authority has erred in holding that the same is not liable to service tax. 3. Ld. Counsel for the respondent on the other hand submits that the nature of the activity should be looked into minutely and they were not maintaining or repairing of the roads although their contracts said so because the budget head from which they were paid comes under the head of repairs. He would assert that, in fact, what they were doing was removing the entire gravel of road and laying a new surface which should be taken as laying of a road. He would submit that it is not necessary for construction of a road to be on a new patch of land. Often, the patch of land is already in use in some form or the other on....

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....work they had undertaken. 6. We have considered the arguments on both sides and perused the records. As far as the demand under Commercial or Industrial Construction Service is concerned, the issue has reached a finality as the lower authority has confirmed the demand and the appellant has not contested it before the first appellate authority and has in fact already paid substantial amount of the demand. The second question to be decided is whether the appellant is liable to pay service tax under Management, Maintenance or Repair Service in respect of the services rendered by them in re-laying the surface of the roads, treating it as repair or maintenance of immovable property or otherwise. Ld. Counsel for the respondent asserts that this ....