TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (8) TMI 192
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....) of the Act, this Advance ruling pronounced by the Appellate Authority under Chapter XVII of the Act shall be binding only (a). On the applicant who had sought it in respect of any matter referred to in sub section (2) of Section 97 for advance ruling; (b). On the concerned officer or the jurisdictional officer in respect of the applicant. 3. Under Section 103 (2) of the Act, this advance ruling shall be binding unless the law, facts or circumstances supporting the said advance ruling have changed, 4. Under Section 104(1) of the Act, where the Appellate Authority finds that advance ruling pronounced by it under sub-section (1) of Section 101 has been obtained by the appellant by fraud or suppression of material facts or misrepresentation of facts, it may, by order, declare such ruling to be void sb-initio and thereupon all the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall apply to the appellant as if such advance ruling has never been made. At the outset, we would like to make it clear that the provisions of both the Central Goods and Service Tax Act and the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act are the same except for certain provisions. Ther....
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....e not 'Support service for agriculture' classifiable under SAC 9986 and therefore the exemption at Sl.No.54 of Notification No. 12/2017-C.T. (Rate) is not applicable to the above activities of the applicant. 5. Aggrieved by the above decision, the Appellant has filed the present appeal. The grounds of appeal are as follows: 1. On perusal of the impugned notification Sl.No.54 refers to Services relating to cultivation of plants and rearing of all life forms of animals, except the rearing of horses, for food, fibre, fuel, raw material or other similar products or agricultural produce by way of- (a) agricultural operations directly related to the production of any agricultural produce including cultivation, harvesting, threshing, plant protection or testing. The list is not exhaustive but is inclusive in nature and similar activities as depicted in the impugned notification would also fall within the ambit of Sl.No.54 of the said notification. The relevant portion of the said Notification is reproduced hereunder: 54 Heading 9986 Services relating to cultivation of plants and rearing of all life forms of animals, except the rearing of horses....
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....on inputs owned by others like operation of a crop production unit on a fee or contract basis This service code does not include: 1. formation and clearance of agricultural land :- 995432 2. services provided by agronomists and agricultural economists :- 998311 3. other pest control services :- 998531 4. water distribution services through mains (on a fee or contract basis) 998633 3. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of CCEx, Jaipur v. Mewar Bartan Nirman Udyog, 2008 (231) ELT 27 (SC) has held that exemption notifications are to be interpreted strictly. In the present case since the exemption is given vide a notification in reference to the SAC, there can be no interpretation of Entry 54 in reference to the Explanatory Notes/ Chapter Notes etc. Therefore reliance on the SAC for denial of the exemption is untenable. 4. In the case of CCEx v. Rajasthan State Chemical Works 1991 (55) ELT 444 (SC) the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has held that "in or in relation' has a wide connotation and cannot be given a narrow interpretation. 5. The impugned Ruling is contrary to law in as much as there is a clear exempti....
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.... borewell for supply of water for production of any agricultural produce is excluded from service tax since it is covered by the scope of negative list entry in section 66D(d) (1) of the Finance Act. This although not having binding force, it goes to show the intent of the legislature. Section 66D(d)(1) is reproduced hereunder: Services relating to agriculture or agricultural produce by way of: (i) agricultural operations directly related to production of any agricultural produce including cultivation, harvesting, threshing, plant protection or seed-testing; (ii) supply of farm labour; (iii) processes carried out at an agricultural farm including tending, pruning, cutting, harvesting, drying, cleaning, trimming, sun drying, fumigating, curing, sorting, grading, cooling or bulk packaging and such like operations which do not alter the essential characteristics of agricultural produce but make it only marketable for the primary market; (Note Process includes process as Such as shelling of paddy or cleaning of wheat) (iv) renting or leasing of agro machinery or vacant land with or without a structure incidental to its use; ....