TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (5) TMI 414
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....; For providing taxable services, the appellants got themselves registered with jurisdictional Service Tax Commissionerate under the Finance Act, 1994. The appellants had entered into contracts with Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) for providing offshore drilling service; further in context with providing such services, the appellants have obtained the rigs on 'Bare boat charter' basis from its subsidiary company M/s Greatship Global Energy Services Pte. Limited, Singapore (GGES). The rigs were delivered to the appellants at a place outside India and the period of hire of such rigs start from the moment these were delivered to the appellants, and they have also paid hire charges for the period when the rigs were not in India. Some of these rigs during its operation under the ONGC contract were positioned in the continental shelf/Exclusive Economic Zone on the basis of their co-ordinates. The details of the rigs which were hired by the appellants were as follows: S. No. Name of Rig Date of contract Contract period Place of delivery Date of delivery Date of entry into India 1 Great drill - Chetna 25.02.2009 11.03.2009 to ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....y classifying it as taxable services of BSS under clause 105(zzzzq) of Section 65 of Finance Act, 1994 for the period 2009-10 to 2011-12; and (d) services availed/received from overseas vendors by classifying it as taxable services of Consulting engineering services under clause 105(g) of Section 65 of Finance Act, 1994 for the period 2008-09 to 2011-12. The demands were raised by invoking extended period under proviso to Section 73(1) ibid, besides proposing for recovery of interest and penalties by issue of Show Cause Notice (SCN) dated 15.10.2013. Further, periodical show cause cum demand notices dated 09.04.2015 and 07.12.2015 were also issued for recovery of service tax covering the period 2013-14 and 2014-15. These SCNs was adjudicated by the learned Commissioner and were culminated into the issue of impugned order dated 11.12.2017. In the impugned order, the original authority has confirmed the adjudged demands as proposed in the show cause notices demanding service tax. Besides confirmation of the said service tax demands, the original authority had also ordered for recovery of interest and imposed penalties under Section 76 and 78 of the Finance Act, 1994....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ng to interrupt the Charterer-appellants' quite possession of the rig and shall not cause any third party to interrupt the said quite possession. [Clause 12(b) of agreement] Operation of the Rig: The appellants shall at their own expense and by their own procurement man, victual, navigate, operate, supply, fuel and repair the rig during the charter period. [Clause 10(b) of agreement] Maintenance and Repairs: It is the appellants' responsibility to maintain the rig, its machinery, boilers, appurtenance and spare parts in efficient operating condition.[Clause 10(a)(i) of agreement] Insurance: During the charter period, the rig shall be kept insured by the appellants at their expense against hull and machinery, war and protection and any other risk. [Clause 13(a) of agreement] Flag and name of Rig: During the Charter period, the appellants have the liberty to paint the rig in its own colour and fly its own house flag. The appellants also have the liberty to change the name and flag of the rig during the charter period (with the approval of the owners which shall not be unreasonably withheld....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e charterers should keep the rig in a state of good repair and efficient operating condition; (iii) the agreements prevented the appellants from providing any lien on the rigs; (iv) agreements required the appellants to hang a notice depicting the ownership of the rigs; (v) the masters, officers and crew of the rig will be the employee of the charterer; (vi) vide the MOU, the appellants are required to use the rigs to only provide services to ONGC with express permission from owners; (vii) there existed clauses in the agreements pertaining to repossession in case of termination of agreement. However, the appellants have provided various grounds which have not been considered by original authority and, therefore, pleaded that the above service tax demands are not sustainable and their appeals be allowed. 3.5 In support of their stand, learned Advocate had relied upon the following decisions of the Tribunal and the judgement of Hon'ble Supreme Court, in the respective cases mentioned below: (i) International Seaport Dredging Ltd. Vs. Commissioner of S.T., - 2018 (12) G.S.T.L. 185 (Tri. - Chennai) (ii) Universa....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ervice'; and (iii) whether confirmation of demand in the impugned order dated 11.12.2017 for short payment of service tax along with interest by invoking extended period of limitation, and subsequent periodical demands along with imposition of penalties is sustainable. The disputed period of the transactions relate to the financial years 2008-2009 to 2013-2014, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. Thus, the disputed period covered both pre-negative list regime i.e., prior to 01.07.2012 and post negative list regime i.e. after 01.07.2015 upto 31.03.2015. 7. In order to address the above issues comprehensively, we would like to refer the relevant legal provisions contained in the Finance Act, 1994, during both pre and post negative list period, as follows: "Definitions. Section 65. In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires,- (19) "business auxiliary service" means any service in relation to (i) promotion or marketing or sale of goods produced or provided by or belonging to the client; or (ii) promotion or marketing of service provided by the client; or (iii) any customer care service provided on behalf ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... in one or more disciplines of engineering including the discipline of computer hardware engineering; Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-clause, it is hereby declared that services provided by a consulting engineer in relation to advice, consultancy or technical assistance in the disciplines of both computer hardware engineering and computer software engineering shall also be classifiable under this subclause; (zzzzj) to any person, by any other person in relation to supply of tangible goods including machinery, equipment and appliances for use, without transferring right of possession and effective control of such machinery, equipment and appliances; (zzzzq) to any person, by any other person, through a business entity or otherwise, under a contract for promotion or marketing of a brand of goods, service, event or endorsement of name, including a trade name, logo or house mark of a business entity by appearing in advertisement and promotional event or carrying out any promotional activity for such goods, service or event; Charge of service tax on services received from outside India. 66A. (1) Where any service specified in claus....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....mmovable property, by way of sale, gift or in any other manner; or (ii) such transfer, delivery or supply of any goods which is deemed to be a sale within the meaning of clause (29A) of article 366 of the Constitution; or (iii) a transaction in money or actionable claim; (b) a provision of service by an employee to the employer in the course of or in relation to his employment; (c) fees taken in any Court or tribunal established under any law for the time being in force. Explanation 1.- For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that nothing contained in this clause shall apply to,- (A) the functions performed by the Members of Parliament, Members of State Legislative, Members of Panchayats, Members of Municipalities and Members of other local authorities who receive any consideration in performing the functions of that office as such member; or (B) the duties performed by any person who holds any post in pursuance of the provisions of the Constitution in that capacity; or (C) the duties performed by any person as a Chairperson or a Member or a Director in a body established by the Central Government or S....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....services in the Union Budget for the year 2008-09, which was introduced through Finance Bill, 2008 with effect from 16.05.2008. Specifying a service separately as a taxable service though does not necessarily mean or suggest that services falling within the scope of newly specified service were not earlier classifiable under any one of the existing taxable services, and in order to charge the taxable services under one or other category, the provisions of classification of services has to be applied. Further, the scope and coverage of a taxable service are to be determined strictly in accordance with the language of the relevant statutory provision existing during the material period. Thus in terms of the definition of taxable services under clause (zzzzj) of Section 65(105), the essential elements to be satisfied by an activity to quality as STGU services are that it should firstly involve supply of tangible goods and secondly, there shall be no transfer of right of possession and effective control of the tangible goods from one person to other person. 8.3. Further, the Education guide on Taxation of Services dated 20.06.2012 issued by the department in clarif....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....lving transfer of effective control and possession is to be determined in terms of the test laid down in the judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court which could be fulfilled by reading the agreement(s) entered into between the parties in a comprehensive manner in order to decide about the exigibility of service tax. 8.4 On perusal of the records of the case, it transpires the appellants had entered into an agreement for chartering of the rigs/vessels from the ship/vessel owners i.e., GGES as per standard contract of Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO). The BIMCO agreement provides for various terms and conditions for which the parties to contract have to enter into agreement. Further, on the subject of ship/vessel hiring/lease and its management, we find that ship owners and ship hirers operate in a myriad of different laws and customs. At the level of international maritime law, there are four basic acts/conventions regulating shipping trade. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed on 10th December 1982, effective as of 16th November 1994, to which India is a signatory, provides the core element of international legislation for maritime ind....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....information concerning parties to the agreement containing 46 specific details in boxes, for ease of tick mark as 'Yes' 'No' 'Applicable, then short details' or 'Not applicable' etc. Part -II Agreement with 31 standard clauses plus additional clauses: Clause 1 Definitions Clause 2, 33 Charter period with additional clause 33 Clause 3 Delivery Clause 4, 32 Time for delivery with additional clause 32 Clause 8 Inspection Clause 10 Maintenance and Operation Clause 11 Hire Clause 12 Mortgage Clause 13 Insurance and Repairs Clause 15, 29 Redelivery, Repossession Part-III Provisions for new building vessels only (optional clauses) Part-IV Hire purchase agreement (optional clauses) From the above contractual arrangements, it can be inferred that in order to comply with various legal compliance requirements over various countries in the delivery, possession, voyage and during the period of hiring of the ship, for the upkeep of the ship including maintenance, repairs and employing the crew, commercial, operational and technical management, repossession of the ship etc., the Ship owner have entered into contractu....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....and expenses of every kind and nature...The Master, officers and crew of the Vessel shall be the servants of the Charterers for all purposes whatsoever, even if for any reason appointed by the Owners. Charterers shall comply with the regulations regarding officers and crew managing in force in the country of the vessels flag or any other applicable law. (d) Flag and Name of Vessel: During the Charter Period, the Charterers shall have the liberty to pain the Vessel in their own colours, install and display their funnel insignia and fly their own house flag... 11. Hire (a) The Charterers shall pay hire due to the Owners punctually in accordance with terms of the Charter in respect of which time shall be of the essence... 12. Mortgage: (b).... The Owner shall do nothing to interrupt the Charterer's quiet enjoyment of the Vessel for the Charter period and shall not cause any third party to interrupt Charterer's said quiet enjoyment provided always that the Charterer shall have fully complied with all its obligations under this Charter.... 13. Insurance (a) During the Charter Period the Vessel shall be kept in....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....f the agreement to come to the conclusion that the activities of the appellants involve STGU services. We have also analyzed these on the basis of the facts of the case and the agreement entered by the appellants as below: Right to inspect/ survey Clause - This Clause allows GGES to inspect the rigs and the ship's/rig's logs to ascertain the condition of the rig. It is found that the clause related to inspection of rig, but does not prove that GGES had control or possession of the rig in any way. The inspection rights of the owner (GGES) are limited and subject to prior approval of ONGC and the appellants. It is clearly stated that such inspection rights can be exercised on a best endeavor basis and without any interference with the commercial operation of the rigs in the agreement. Thus, in our considered view such inspection right of the owner cannot cause the off-hire of the rig. This actually proves that GGES has transferred possession and control and therefore, needs a clause for providing necessary arrangement for inspection of rigs, in case of need by the owner. Repair Clause - In our view, this clause in fact reinforces the fact that the possession a....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....as included in the contract. Thus, in our considered view, the restrictions put on use by ONGC or clients, will not interfere with the possession and control of the rigs by the appellants. Repossession - The clause on repossession has been has been understood by the learned Commissioner to arrive at the conclusion that right to repossess the rigs gives GGES the effective control of the rigs. The bareboat charter agreement does not envisage a situation whereby GGES can arbitrarily repossess the rig. The repossession is possible only in case of termination of the agreement which include events like nonpayment of hire charges or any other breach of the contract like noncompliance or failure to maintain the rig etc. Further, this clause in fact supports the submission of the appellants that they are in possession of the rig during the continuance of the agreement and therefore, in our view the clause provides for repossession of rig without disturbing the arrangement for charter hire. In view of the above analysis, we do not find convincing that the impugned order had made out any legal grounds for sustaining the adjudged demands confirmed by the learned Commiss....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ion as supply of tangible goods. Hence, on the facts of the case and on the detailed examination of the services provided by the appellants as above, we do not find it feasible to categorise the same as 'Supply of Tangible Goods for use' in order to subject the transaction for levy of service tax under Section 65 (105) (zzzzj) ibid. In view of the above conclusions arrived on the basis of factual records, we are unable to sustain the adjudged demands confirmed by the learned Commissioner in the impugned order on account of service tax payable as held by him for the taxable category 'Supply of Tangible Goods for Use' (STGU). 9.1 It has also been submitted by the learned Advocate for the appellants that in the trade parlance the contract in respect of providing rigs on hire is known as a 'charter party'; that a charter party can be of two types, namely, 'charter by demise' and 'charter not by demise'. In 'charter by demise', the ship-owner surrenders the possession and control of the rig to the charterer i.e., the person/entity who takes the rig on charter from the ship-owner. The charterer is given the rights and obligations of th....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ter the development and ensure the efficient maintenance of an Indian mercantile marine in a manner best suited to serve the national interests and for that purpose to establish a National Shipping Board who will provide for the registration, certification, safety, security of Indian ships and also for the engagement and discharge of seamen, their wages and welfare, working conditions etc. Further, we find that in order to consolidate the laws relating to admiralty jurisdiction, legal proceedings in connection with vessels, their arrest, detention, sale and other matters connected therewith or incidental thereon the Government had brought out the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017. Section 96 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 provide for engagement of seamen only by a ship owner or his agent. The relevant section is extracted below: "96. Supply or engagement of seamen in contravention of Act prohibited.― (1) A person shall not engage or supply a seaman to be entered on board any ship in India unless that person is the owner, master or mate of the ship, or is the agent of the owner or is bona fide the servant and in the cons....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....nery, equipment and appliances for use, without transferring right of possession and effective control of such machinery, equipment and appliances". 9. The whole dispute can be narrowed down to the interpretation of exclusion clause in the above entry. In other words, services in relation of supply of tangible goods for use, without transferring right of possession and effective control shall be liable to service tax. The appellant's case is that they have right of possession and effective control of the vessels/dredgers. In this connection, we have perused the Bareboat Charter, a copy of which was submitted by the Ld. Counsel. The charter talks about delivery of vessel to be taken over by the appellant at the designated place. After due survey and inventory, the vessel is to be delivered to the appellant. At the time of delivery the appellant shall pay for all the bunkers, lubricating oils and water. Clause 9 of the Charter states that the vessel shall during the charter period be in full possession and at the absolute control for all purposes of the charterers and under their complete control in every respect. The charterers shall maintain the vessel, her machinery, boil....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... shipowner's rights and obligations. The charterer, who provides the personnel, insurance and other materials necessary to operate the vessel, is known either as a demise charterer or as an owner pro hac vice. Also termed demise charter; demise charterparty; bareboat charterparty. The 'demise' or 'bareboat' charter is conceptually the easiest to understand. The charterer takes possession and operates the ship during the period of the charter as though the vessel belonged to the charterer. The bareboat charter is thus analogous to the driver who leases a car for a specified period or a tenant who rents a house for a term of years. The charterer provides the vessel's master and crew (much as the lessee-driver personally drives the car) and pays, the operating expenses (much as the lessee-driver buys the gasoline. "David W. Robertson, Steven F. Friedell & Michael F. Sturley, Admiralty and Maritime Law in the United States 371 - 72 (2002)." As against above, time charter is defined as a charter for a specified period under which the ship owner continues to manage and control the vessel but the charterer designates the port of call and the cargo to be carried. ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ly under control and employment of the appellants. The maintenance of the vessel for wear and tear and also expenses for lubricating, spare parts, water etc. are in fact met by the appellant only. This is not the case in the case of Petronet LNG (supra). Even then the Tribunal in the said case held that reading the charter agreement as a whole, it is clear that there is a transfer of right of possession and effective control of the vessel with the assessee. 18. We note that the adjudicating authority observed that there is no legal transfer of right of possession or effective control of the vessels by the appellant. We note that such observation is contrary to the facts as revealed from the terms of charter agreement. It is relevant to note here that the transaction is not a sale simplicitor. But a transaction where there is transfer of right of possession and effective control of the goods transferred are considered as deemed sale. The clarification issued by the Board on 29-10-2008 explaining the scope of the present tax entry is relevant in this regard. It is clarified that transaction of allowing another person to use the goods without giving the legal right of possess....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... the implication of Bill of Lading in the said case. 23. On a careful consideration of Bareboat Charter, involved in the present case, findings of the impugned order and the submissions of the appellant, we have arrived at the conclusion that in the present case there is a transfer of right of possession and effective control of the vessel/dredger to the appellant. This arrangement is outside the purview of service tax liability under a 'supply of tangible goods services'." 9.4 We further find that this Tribunal had dealt with the similar issue in the case of Universal Dredging and Reclamation Corporation Ltd., (supra) for the same issue during the post-negative list period, wherein it was held that the activities charter hire of the vessel is nothing but transfer of right to use the goods and does not fall within the 'declared services' as alleged by the department. The relevant paragraphs of the said order are extracted below: "6. The period involved is from November, 2015 to January, 2016. For the period prior to 1-7-2012 when the classification of services were in existence, similar issue has been decided by the Tribunal in the case of International S....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....portion in the execution of a works contract; (i) service portion in an activity wherein goods, being food or any other article of human consumption or any drink (whether or not intoxicating) is supplied in any manner as a part of the activity; From the above, it can be seen that as per sub-clause (f) transfer of goods by way of hiring, leasing or licensing or in any similar manner would be a taxable service. However, if the transfer involves right to use the goods, it would be outside the purview of taxability. The definition of "services" introduced w.e.f. 1-7-2012 in Section 65B(44) is also worth of reproducing which is as under : "service" means any activity carried out by a person for another for consideration, and includes a declared service, but shall not include____ (a) an activity which constitutes merely,______ (i) a transfer of title in goods or immovable property, by way of sale, gift or in any other manner; or (ii) Such transfer, delivery or supply of any goods which is deemed to be a sale within the meaning of clause (29A) of Article 366 of the Constitution; or (iii) A transaction i....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....he above clause which relates to maintenance and operation states that, it is the responsibility of the appellant to maintain the vessel in proper condition. Undisputedly the operations are fully under the control of the appellant. The appellant has obtained necessary license to use the vessel for dredging. This license is location specific. During the charter period the vessel can be used only in this location (port). The entire crew and staff is of the appellant. All this would go to show that the appellant has entire control for operating the vessel during charter period. 8. It is stated in this clause that if the appellant does not maintain the vessel by doing necessary repairs, the owner/lessor will have the right to withdraw the vessel from the service of the appellant. The question is whether such restriction is an indication that there is no transfer of effective control of the vessel. The Ld. Consultant has explained that such a clause giving right to the owner/lessor to withdraw the vessel is only to protect the interest of the owner on the vessel. It also has to be noted that such right to withdraw the vessel comes into play only when there is a breach in the cl....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ve, in the present case, there is a transfer of possession and effective control of the vessels to the appellant under the various clauses of the charter agreement which clearly brings out that the appellant is having legal right of possession and effective control of the vessel." In the above decision, the Tribunal had referred to the decision of Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka in Great Eastern Shipping Co. Ltd. v. State of Karnataka - 2004 (136) STC 519 (Kar.). The Hon'ble High Court held that the transaction was a deemed sale and is subject to levy of sales tax. Against this decision, an appeal was preferred by the assessee before the Hon'ble Apex Court as Civil Appeal No. 3383 of 2004 [2020 (32) G.S.T.L. 3 (S.C.)]. It's noticed that the same was disposed vide decision dated 412-2019 wherein the decision of the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka was upheld. Merely because there is a right given to the owner/lessor to withdraw the vessel in case they cause breach of the condition to do repairs of the vessel, cannot be a ground to infer that there is no transfer of effective control of the vessel. Even though discussions in these decisions pertain to the period prior to 1-7-....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ble to withdraw the vessel in case of breach of agreement to do necessary repairs and maintenance, there is nothing to show in the agreement that the lessor retains the control over the vessel. The appellant has absolute discretion to use the vessel for dredging during the charter period. Such enjoyment of the vessel cannot be interrupted by the lessor unless there is a breach to do the repairs of the vessel. Further, this condition is subject to condition No. 16 which is the clause for pre-termination of the agreement. If there is breach on the side of the appellant to do periodical maintenance which may give rise to a right to the lessor to withdraw the vessel, then lessor has to abide by Clause 16 (Pre-termination notice) to put an end to agreement and then withdraw the vessel. Appellant thus enjoys full right to exclusion of others. During the period, neither the owner can use the vessel nor can the owner transfer the right to use of the vessel to another person. We have no hesitation to hold that the appellant enjoys right to use the vessel to the exclusion of the owner. 11. Another finding in the impugned order is that since the appellant retained the registration an....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... and includes evaluation of prospective customer, telemarketing, processing of purchase orders and fulfilment services, information and tracking of delivery schedules, managing distribution and logistics, customer relationship management services, accounting and processing of transaction, operational assistance for marketing, formulation of customer service and pricing policies, infrastructure support services and other transaction processing. Explanation: For the purpose of this clause, the expression "infrastructural support services" includes providing office along with office utilities, lounge, reception with competent personnel to handle messages, secretarial services, internet and telecom facilities, panty and security;. Section 65(105)(zzzq) - "Taxable service" means any service provided or to be provided to any person, by any other person, in relation to support services of business or commerce, in any manner;" Plain reading of the above definition of business support service it transpires that the activities are divided into two parts i.e. the "means" part and the "includes" part. The "means" part covers any service in relation to business or commerce ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....n of Services (Provided from Outside India and Received in India) Rules, 2006 covers services which are performance specific. Therefore, these services would qualify as import of service into India, only if the services are fully or partly performed in India. Rule 3(ii) of said Rules is reproduced as under: "3. Taxable services provided from outside India and received in India.- Subject to section 66A of the Act, the taxable services provided from outside India and received in India shall, in relation to taxable services,- xx xx xx xx (ii) specified in sub-clauses (a), (f), (h), (i), (j), (l), (n), (o), (w), (z), (zb), (zc), (zi), (zj), (zn), (zo), (zq), (zr), (zt), (zu), (zv),(zw), (zz), (zza), (zzc), (zzd), (zzf), (zzg), (zzi), (zzl), (zzm), (zzo), (zzt), (zzv), (zzw), (zzx), (zzy), (zzzd), (zzze), (zzzf),(zzzzg), (zzzzh), (zzzzi), (zzzzk), (zzzzl) and (zzzzo) of clause (105) of section 65 of the Act, be such services as are performed in India: Provided that where such taxable service is partly performed in India, it shall be treated as performed in ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....t rigs are under construction for which the GGES had entered into separate agreement with ship builder M/s Keppel Fels Yard, Singapore. However, in the agreement entered by the appellants and GGES, a specific clause had been incorporated for ensuring that the rigs are suitable for the use of appellants and that they would conduct inspection by independent experts/inspector and pay for the same. The additional clause 32 in the contract provide as follows: 32. Time of Delivery (additional clause) The vessel shall be delivered at the place stated in Box 13, not later than the date stated in Box 14, after successful completion of the Third party inspection by an independent Inspector nominated and paid for by the Charterers. The Vessel shall comply in full to technical specifications attached at Schedule-I. The Vessel shall be delivered by the Owner to the Charterer along with... as per clients published technical specifications. Further, the learned Commissioner after examining the various documents produced by the appellants including the assignment letters, had given a specific finding that the consulting engineers were engaged on assignment basis fo....