TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (3) TMI 499
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....ion vs Union of India and others, decided on 15.01.2026. 2. Notice of the application. 3. Ms. Ridhi Bansal, Advocate accepts notice on behalf of respondent. 4. At request and with consent of learned counsel for parties, hearing of petition is preponed from 24.03.2026 for today itself. 5. Prayer in this writ petition is for quashing Show Cause Notice No. 160/2024 dated 09.07.2024 (Annexure P-6), whereby respondent No.2 has levied GST on the amount received by the petitioner as Tarif petition fee and license fee. It is the case of petitioner that said amount is received for discharging functions under Section 86 of the Electricity Act, 2003, which are judicial, quasi-judicial and inherently of statutory nature. 6. Learned couns....
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....roperty right, development, design of software, transfer of the right to use goods and which are subjects enumerated in serial 5 of Schedule II. The regulatory power which is wielded by Commissions under the provisions of the Electricity Act would also not fall within the ambit of clause (e) of serial 5 and which speaks of an obligation to refrain from doing an act or toleration of an act or situation. 25. Of equal significance is the definition of "business" and "consideration" as it appears in the statute. Section 2(17) defines "business" as follows: - "2. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires xxxx xxxx xxxx (17) "business" includes- (a) any trade, commerce, m....
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....ion to the supply of goods or services or both includes- (a) any payment made or to be made, whether in money or otherwise, in respect of, in response to, or for the inducement of, the supply of goods or services or both. whether by the recipient or by any other person but shall not include any subsidy given by the Central Government or a State Government; (b) the monetary value of any act or forbearance, in respect of, in response to, or for the inducement of, the supply of goods or services or both, whether by the recipient or by any other person but shall not include any subsidy given by the Central Government or a State Government: Provided that a deposit given in respect of the supply of goods or services or ....
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....actions undertaken by the Central or State Governments or a local authority, the said clause too would have no application since a Commission which comes to be constituted under the Electricity Act cannot be equated with the Central or State Governments. The expression "local authority" is defined by Section 2(69) to include local bodies such as Panchayats, Municipalities, Municipal Committees, Cantonment Boards or Regional Councils and other authorities which may come to be constituted in terms of Articles 371, 371A, 371J or the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. A Commission which is constituted under the Electricity Act would undisputedly not fall within the ken of such authorities. 29. The word "consideration", in our consider....
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....and regulatory role of Commissions. Mixed as well as composite supplies of services or goods are aspects which are duly and independently defined and explained. Even those provisions cannot possibly be interpreted or stretched so as to hold that the fees received by Commissions could have been subjected to tax. The assumption of jurisdiction in terms of the notices impugned before us is thus found to be ex facie wholly untenable. 32. Of significance is the respondent observing "Therefore, anything other than goods, money and securities will also include the activities of "regulating the tariff of generating companies owned or controlled by the Central Government, regulating the inter-State transmission of electricity, to issue lice....
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....r tribunal from the levy of a tax under the CGST. 35. The Electricity Act makes no distinction between the regulatory and adjudicatory functions which it vests in and confers upon a Commission. Those functions are placed in the hands of a quasi-judicial body enjoined to regulate and administer the subject of electricity distribution. Electricity, undoubtedly, is a natural resource which vests in the State. We have thus no hesitation in observing that the SCNs infringe the borders of the incredible and inconceivable." 8. It is informed that this decision was challenged by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission by filing SLP (Civil) No. 19662 of 2025, which has been dismissed by Hon'ble the Supreme Court on 21.07.2025. 9....