Exemption of legal services under notifications limits Designated Officer jurisdiction, so recovery proceedings were quashed and petition allowed.

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....Exemption for legal services under Notification No. 25/2012 and No. 30/2012 removes Service Tax liability for individual advocates and advocate firms, and therefore the Designated Officer lacked jurisdiction to pursue service tax recovery for 2016-17; the court applied precedent and held the impugned proceedings and lien unsustainable for want of jurisdiction and failure to afford natural justice. The petitioner had not replied to the show cause notice but the Court treated the notifications as determinative; consequence: the petition succeeded and recovery action was set aside as covered by the cited authority.....