Legal Reference Library

High Court of Delhi Make My Trip (India) Pvt. Ltd v. Union Of India & Ors. MANU/DE/2284/2016 01.09.2016 Service Tax Power of arrest is to be used with great circumspection and not casually Present writ Petitions filed by two entities operating on-line platforms/web portals raise important questions involving powers of Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) of arrest, investigation and assessment of service tax under provisions of the Finance Act, 1994. In both writ petitions, applications were filed for interim directions to restrain DGCEI from taking any coercive steps against the entities and their officers. Scheme of provisions of Finance Act 1994 (FA), do not permit DGCEI or for that matter Service Tax Department (ST Department) to by-pass procedure as set out in Section 73A (3) and (4) of Act before going ahead with arrest of a person under Sections 90 and 91 of Act. Power of arrest is to be used with great circumspection and not casually. It...

The Calcutta High Court has quashed Show-cause cum demand notice demanding Service Tax from former Indian Cricket Team captain, Saurav Ganguly. Justice Arijit Banerjee said that that mere failure to disclose a transaction or activity and pay tax thereon or a mere misstatement is not sufficient for invocation of the extended period of limitation, which has been done in this case. The Court also held that the remuneration received by the former Skipper for writing articles and anchoring TV shows would not attract service tax. The court also observed that “brand endorsement” was not a taxable service during the period of time for which the tax demand was raised, and hence such demand cannot be sustained. The Court also said that Ganguly while he played for Indian Premier League (IPL) was not rendering any service which could be classified as business support service. NON-DISCLOSURE SIMPLICITOR CANNOT BE CALLED ‘SUPPRESSION OF FACTS’ An amount of Rs. 1, 51, 66,500, was demanded from the fo...