Extended limitation for service-tax demand - Wilful suppression with intent to evade tax - Bona fide belief arising from interpretation of exemption notification - demand of service tax on airfield-drainage services claimed as exempt under the exemption notification - HELD THAT: - The question whether an airfield drainage system fell within the entry for sewerage treatment or disposal under the exemption notification was one of interpretation. That interpretative issue afforded the appellant a b... ... ...

Penalty where service tax and interest are paid before show-cause notice - Adjustment of excess service tax in succeeding months or quarters Penalty where service tax and interest are paid before show-cause notice - Imposition of penalties for short-payment of service tax where the tax and interest had been paid before issuance of the show-cause notice - HELD THAT: - Section 73(3) affords relief from penalty where the amount in question is paid with interest before issuance of the show-cause ... ... ...

Extinguishment of statutory dues under an approved resolution plan - Service-tax demand on notice-pay recoveries for a period preceding the resolution-plan closing date, where the Central Government had not lodged any claim under the plan HELD THAT: - The Department confirmed that no claim had been made against the Order-in-Original. The Tribunal held that the demand pertaining to the period before the closing date stood discharged and settled under the approved Resolution Plan. [Paras 4] ... ... ...

Show cause notice as foundation of service-tax demand - Appellate introduction of a new taxable-service classification - Consequential interest and penalty on unsustainable tax demand Show cause notice as foundation of service-tax demand - Appellate introduction of a new taxable-service classification - Sustainability of service-tax demands on foreign-currency expenditure for the pre-01.07.2012 positive-list period where the notices did not identify the taxable service and the appellate autho... ... ...

Classification of composite engineering services - Export of engineering services - Technical Inspection and Certification Service Classification of the composite assignment involving engineering, development, quality coordination and dispatch assistance as Consulting Engineer Service rather than Technical Inspection and Certification Service - HELD THAT: - Classification had to be determined from the substance and essential character of the contracted service, without selectively isolating i... ... ...

CENVAT credit for input services received at unregistered premises - CENVAT credit on works contract services for construction of BPO branches - Extended limitation for declared CENVAT credit - Interest on inadmissible CENVAT credit - Penalty for non-inclusion of premises in centralized registration CENVAT credit for input services received at unregistered premises - Admissibility of CENVAT credit on input services received at premises not included in centralized registration - HELD THAT: - R... ... ...

Speaking order in de novo adjudication - Consideration of submissions on remand - Validity of the de novo service-tax adjudication after remand, where the adjudicating authority adopted findings in an earlier order that had been set aside without independently examining the evidence and submissions HELD THAT: - A quasi-judicial authority must give cogent reasons demonstrating consideration of the material, evidence and submissions before it. The impugned order merely concurred with the findin... ... ...

Works-contract service exemption for Government projects - Governmental-authority status for service-tax exemption - Reverse-charge liability on works-contract services - Service-tax penalties for registration, return-filing and payment defaults Works-contract service exemption for Government projects - Exemption for construction of road and protection of a river ghat undertaken for the Irrigation Department during 2014-15 - HELD THAT: - The documents produced established that the receipts we... ... ...

Service-tax demand based on uncorrelated 26AS receipts - Attribution of receipts to multiple service-tax registrations under the same PAN Sustainability of service-tax demand raised by attributing the entire 26AS receipts to one of multiple registrations held under the same PAN - HELD THAT: - The same income-tax information was processed simultaneously against three separate service-tax registrations sharing the same PAN, and the entire receipts reflected in 26AS were treated as undeclared re... ... ...

Validity of show cause notice - Reimbursable expenses - Taxability of imported services under the positive-list and negative-list regimes - Cum-tax valuation under reverse charge - Extended limitation and revenue neutrality - Penalty for suppression of service-tax liability - Penalty for incorrect ST-3 returns Validity of show cause notice - Specificity of service-tax demand - Validity of the show cause notice in respect of foreign-currency expenditure under Annexure C - HELD THAT: - The noti... ... ...

Classification of separately priced coal transportation and handling services - Business Auxiliary Service-service rendered on behalf of a client - Extended limitation-wilful suppression in disclosed transactions - Interest and penalties on unsustainable service-tax demands Classification of separately priced coal transportation and handling services - Cargo Handling Service - Classification of the separately priced handling, port-related and ocean-transportation components of the coal-moveme... ... ...

Writ jurisdiction against service tax demand - Proof of entitlement to exemption - Interference in writ jurisdiction with the service tax demand where exemption for handling and transportation services was claimed without producing the relevant tender document and supporting work orders HELD THAT: - The Court found that the assessing authority had considered the petitioner's defence and documents. The petitioner had not produced the relevant tender document either before the assessing aut... ... ...

Adjudication of service-tax show-cause notice within reasonable time - Alternative remedy and writ jurisdiction Adjudication of service-tax show-cause notice within reasonable time - Unexplained delay in adjudication - Validity of the service-tax adjudication order passed after prolonged delay from the show-cause notice - HELD THAT: - Section 73(4B)(b) requires determination, where possible, within one year in cases invoking the extended period. The expression "where it is possible to do so" ... ... ...

Levy of service tax - applicability of exclusion to 'transport terminal' provided in Section 65(105)(zzza) - construction of Traffic and Transit Management Centers (TTMC) - construction of bus terminals appeared to have not been recognised as a separate activity - invocation of extended period of limitation HELD THAT:- We find no grounds to interfere with the impugned judgment and order passed by the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal [2025 (11) TMI 603 - CESTAT CHENNAI]. Hence... ... ...

Provisional attachment of the buildings as proceeds of crime or their value under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 - charge-sheet alleged scheduled offences involving fraudulent procurement of regulatory permissions through fabricated infrastructure and records, unlawful fee collections, retention of student deposits and misuse of government funds - HELD THAT: - Proceedings under the PMLA do not adjudicate reciprocal obligations under the memorandum of understanding or the fairness o... ... ...

Proceeds of crime - share application money allegedly arising from coal-block allocation - Attachment under PMLA - nexus with scheduled offence Whether share application money received by the appellant company could be treated as proceeds of crime derived from the scheduled offences concerning coal-block allocation, so as to sustain attachment of the properties? - HELD THAT: - The Directorate's initial case that investors were induced to invest by the coal-block allocation was contradicte... ... ...

Single-member Adjudicating Authority under PMLA - Reasons to believe for provisional attachment under PMLA - Independent satisfaction in PMLA adjudication - Attachment of property acquired before scheduled offence Single-member Adjudicating Authority under PMLA - Constitutional validity of non-judicial Member - Constitutional validity of an attachment-confirmation order rendered by a single Finance Member of the Adjudicating Authority - HELD THAT: - The Adjudicating Authority scrutinises proc... ... ...

Bail in money-laundering prosecution - Prolonged pre-trial incarceration Bail in money-laundering prosecution - Prolonged pre-trial incarceration - Grant of bail to an accused in a money-laundering prosecution after prolonged custody. - HELD THAT: - The Court held that the continued incarceration of appellant No. 1 was no longer required, having regard to the charge levelled against him and the period for which he had remained in custody. [Paras 7, 8, 9] The impugned order was set aside an... ... ...

Arbitration clause and statutory insolvency remedy - Operational creditor status for debt arising from supply of goods - Pre-existing dispute in operational debt proceedings Arbitration clause and statutory insolvency remedy - Maintainability of an operational debt application where the underlying contract contains an arbitration clause - HELD THAT: - Given the fact that, the existence of an arbitration clause, as already observed by us is a private legal remedy and is not statutorily prescri... ... ...

Independent and legally enforceable financial debt against the Corporate Debtor - proof of independent liability of corporate debtor Whether the Appellant has been able to establish the existence of an independent financial debt against the Corporate Debtor? - HELD THAT: - A claim can continue in the insolvency process only upon reliable material establishing an independent and legally enforceable debt. The original payment was made to AEZ; no banking trail established transfer by the Appella... ... ...