TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (7) TMI 113
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....s are registered with the Service Tax Department for providing 'Technical Inspection and Certification Service" and were paying the applicable service tax for the period from 2008 - 09 onwards. Further, the Senior Quality Assurance Officer vide his letter dated 17.6.2010 informed the Service Tax Department that as per their HQDGQA, New Delhi directive, they had to pay service tax since 1.7.2003 to 31.3.2010 along with interest after necessary sanction of funds from Head Quarters, New Delhi. However, the appellant did not make any payments towards their service tax liability for the period prior to their registration and did not file any return till 2010 - 11. During scrutiny of records of the appellant, the officers of Central Excise notice....
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....tification agency' service as defined under section 65(109) of the Finance Act 1994. The learned consultant submitted that the appellant is engaged in an activity which is purely in public interest and are undertaken as per mandatory and statutory functions. He drew attention to Rule 22 of The Arms Rules, 1962, which states that proof testing of firearms manufactured by a licensed dealer shall be carried out only in accordance with the regulations which may be framed by the central government or framed by such authority as a Government may specify in this behalf and approved by that Government, no dealer shall sell a firearm which is not been duly proof tested. Hence the amounts collected towards quality assurance charges for testing the ri....
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....the Arms Rule, 1962 testing fee alone is collected. The said clarification issued by the Revenue will bind the subordinate assessing authorities and one cannot expect a different order from respondents 6 and 7. A similar issue was already considered by Commissioner of Central Excise Bhopal against CESTAT final order No.ST/26/2010 (PB) in Appeal No.ST/346/2007 dated 26.04.2010 by holding that periodical testing of gas cylinder is a statutory requirement under Indian Explosives Act 1884 and therefore, it is not an activity covered for service lax either under maintenance and repair services or technical inspection and certification services and having aggrieved about the said order, Civil appeal filed before Hon'ble Supreme Court was dism....
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....d by Hon'ble the Supreme Court, and Circular No.96 issued by Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, Tax Resource Unit, New Delhi in Circular No.96/7/2007-ST dated 23.08.2007 as well as the clarification issued by Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax, Bhopal dated 21.02.2012, the operative portions of which are extracted above, and having regard to the fact that the Senior Quality Assurance Officer, being authorised office for testing, and the petitioners having paid only testing fee for fire arms, which is a statutory requirement under Rule 22 of the Arms Rules, 1962, no service tax can be levied on the petitioners who are granted license under Section 5 of the Arms Act, 1950 even if the servic....