TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (2) TMI 522
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....ction services other than Residential Complex including Commercial/Industrial Building as Civil Structure, Site Formation and Clearance, Excavation, Supply of Tangible Goods Maintenance & Repair, Erection & Commissioning and Installation Service etc. 2.2 On examination of records of the party, it was observed that respondent had provided Work Contract Service, Maintenance or Repair Service and Supply of Tangible Goods Service to their client during 2016-17 & 2017-18 (Upto June'2017). On perusal of their Form 26AS vis a vis ST-3 Returns, it was found that they have not discharged service tax in respect of the services provided to their clients Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation, Division Patna and Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited. They claimed exemption under SI. No 12(a) of Notification No. 25/2012- ST dated 20.06.2012 for providing their taxable service to Governmental Authority. 2.3 Revenue authorities entertained the view that M/s. Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation and M/s Bihar Medical Services & Infrastructure Corporation Ltd did not satisfy the criteria laid down therein for being termed as Governmental Authority....
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....n terms of the above cited definition, for which two conditions should be fulfilled- i) An authority body should be established with 90% or more participation by way of equity or control by Government ii) It should have been set up to carry out any function entrusted to a municipality under article 243W of the Constitution. Though both service recipients i.e. M/s Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation and M/s Bihar Medical Services & Infrastructure Corporation Ltd are owned by the Bihar government but hey have not been established to carry out any function entrusted to a municipality under article 243W of the Constitution. 5.3.2 Article 243 of the constitution states as follows : 243W. Powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities, etc: Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a State may, by law, endow - (a) the Municipalities with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self government and such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon Municipalities, subject to such conditions as may be spec....
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....ion Ltd were established. It is apparent from the impugned Order-In Original that the Adjudicating authority has concluded that the two recipients of the services provided by M/s Lotus Infra Construction Pvt. Ltd. are Governmental Authority merely on the basis of the ownership of their share capital lying with the Bihar Government without bothering to even check whether the second part of definition (i.e. whether they have been set up to carry out any work entrusted to municipalities under Article 243W) is being satisfied. It is also pertinent to state at this point that even if any particular activity of a body /authority/ board, etc. appears to fall within the ambit of municipal responsibility as delineated in Article 243W, that by itself would not the sufficient for that body to be declared as a Governmental Authority in terms of Notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012, as for that it would be necessary to clearly and cogently prove that the concerned organization was in fact, established with the aim of carrying out/ undertaking the specified municipal function/ responsibility. Since the Adjudicating Authority has failed to do so in the impugned order, it is not legal and ....
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....t, a local authority or a governmental authority by way of construction, erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance renovation, or alteration of- (a) a civil structure or any other original works meant predominantly for use other than for commerce, industry, or any other business or profession; (b) a historical monument, archaeological site or remains of national importance, archaeological excavation, or antiquity specified under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (24 of 1958); (c) a structure meant predominantly for use as (i) an educational, (ii) a clinical, or (iii) an art or cultural establishment; (d) canal, dam or other works; (e) pipeline, conduit or plant for (i) water supply (ii) water treatment, or (ii) sewerage treatment or disposal; or (f) a residential complex predominantly meant for self-use or the use of their employees or other persons specified in the Explanation 1 to clause 44 of section 65 B of the said Act;" On perusal of the copy of MOAAOA of M/s Bihar Medical Services and....
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....f Finance Act Rs. 1994 Hence, the history of exemption available for construction related work contract service provided to Government, can be summarized as under: Period Under 01.07,2012 to 31.03.2015 Entry No. 12 Notification No. 25/2012-ST dt. 20.06.2012 01.04.2015 to 29.02.2016 Section 102, Finance Act, 1994 as inserted by Finance Act, 2016 01.03.2016 to 01.04.2020 Entry 12A, Notification No. 25/2012-ST as amended by Notification No. 09/2016-ST dated 01.03.2016 The basic condition for exemption is that the services provided should be to the Government, a local authority or a governmental authority and the structure or any other original works meant predominantly for use other than for commerce, industry, or any other business or profession. So far as first criteria of exemption is concerned, Para 2(s) of Mega Exemption List as provided in Notification no. 25/2012-ST dated 25.06.2012, defines the Government Authority as "Government Authority means a board, or an authority or any other body established with 90% or more participation by way of equity or control by Government and set up by an act of Parliament or a State Legislatur....
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....tion no. 25/2012- ST dated 20.06.2012. 5.6 Thus, I find that demand of Service Tax (including Cesses) of Rs. 2,39,39,196/-, made from the party in this case, is not sustainable on merit. Consequently, the proposals for charging interest and imposing penalty are also not sustainable. 4.3 We find that we are in the present appeal considered with the period 2016-2017 to 2017-18 (upto June 2017). The definition of the Government Authority as per clause „2 (s)' of the Notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 was substituted by the Notification No 02/2014-ST dated 30.01.2014. Impugned order and the Committee of Chief Commissioners reviewing the order, have relied upon the un-amended definition to interpret the phrase "Government Authority" used in the said notification. Both un-amended and amended definition of "Government Authority" were subject matter for consideration by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in case of Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Pvt. Ltd. [2023 (79) G.S.T.L. 145 (S.C.)], and following was observed: "Analysis 14. Before we commence our analysis, it would be apt to juxtapose the relevant clauses from the Exemption Notification and the Clari....
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....ation by way of equity or control by Government to carry out any function entrusted to a municipality under Article 243W of the Constitution. 16. While the aforesaid interpretation of amended clause 2(s) has been upheld by the Patna High Court, the appellants have countered the same by submitting that the amended definition of "governmental authority" as in clause 2(s) should be interpreted in a manner so as to make the long line under clause 2(s) applicable to both sub-clause (i) and sub-clause (ii). In other words, as per the appellants, to qualify as a "governmental authority" under clause 2(s)(i), such authority, board or body must not only be a statutory authority set up by an Act of Parliament or a State Legislature but must also have 90% or more participation of the Government by way of equity or control to carry out any like function that a municipality under Article 243W of the Constitution is entrusted to discharge. 17. We have no hesitation to disagree with the latter interpretation sought to be placed by the appellants, for the reasons that follow. 18. In Superintendent & Legal Remembrancer, State of West Bengal v. Corporation of Calcutta [(19....
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.... called for. Parliament cannot be assumed to legislate for the sake of legislation; nor can it be assumed to make pointless legislation. Parliament does not indulge in legislation merely to state what it is unnecessary to state or to do what is already validly done. Parliament may not be assumed to legislate unnecessarily." 22. Having noticed some of the precedents in the field of interpretation of statutes, we now move on to a little bit of English grammar. The word "or" as well as the word "and" is a conjunction; and it is well known that a conjunction is used to join words, phrases, or clauses. On how the conjunctions "or" and "and" are to be read, guidance could be drawn from authoritative texts and judicial decisions. As per Justice G.P. Singh's Principles of Statutory Interpretation, the word "or" is normally disjunctive while the word "and" is normally conjunctive. In English law, the position is clear as crystal, as explained by Lord Scrutton in Green v. Premier Glynrhonwy Slate Co. [(1928) 1 K.B. 561, page 569] that one does not read "or" as "and" in a statute unless one is obliged, because "or" does not generally mean "and" and "and" does not generally mean "or".....
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....terpreted as "and" so as to tie it with the condition enumerated in the long line of clause 2(s) which is applicable only to subclause (ii). 25. Applying a different lens, let us test the worth of Ms. Bagchi's submission in the light of the punctuations in clause 2(s). It has been held by a Bench of nine Hon'ble Judges of this Court in Kantaru Rajeevaru v. Indian Young Lawyers Association & Ors. [(2020) 9 SCC 121, para 18] that when a provision is carefully punctuated and there is doubt about its meaning, weight should undoubtedly be given to the punctuation; however, though a punctuation may have its uses in some cases, but it cannot certainly be regarded as a controlling element and cannot be allowed to control the plain meaning. While so observing, this Court considered several decisions as well as the punctuation comma in the relevant provision of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013. 26. What follows is that punctuation, though a minor element, may be resorted to for the purpose of construction. 27. In the present case, the use of a semicolon is not a trivial matter but a deliberate inclusion with a clear intention to differentiate it from sub-clause (ii). ....