Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada Vs Princiapl Commissioner of Central Tax (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
A group of writ petitions was filed by various public universities established by the State of Andhra Pradesh under different State Acts, challenging orders of assessment issued under the GST law. The assessments required the universities to pay GST on affiliation fees and No Objection Certificate (NOC) fees collected from affiliated colleges. The assessment periods and dates varied across universities, but the common issue was taxation of such fees under the GST regime.
The assessing authorities treated these fees as consideration for services rendered by the universities and held them taxable under GST. The authorities also rejected the claim that such activities were exempt under Entry 66 of Notification No. 12/2017- Central Tax (Rate) or other related exemption entries. They further reasoned that even statutory functions could be taxable if they involved supply of services.
The universities challenged these orders, arguing that they are statutory bodies created under State legislation and perform mandatory regulatory functions, including granting affiliation and issuing NOCs to colleges. These functions are governed by statutory provisions and UGC guidelines, leaving no discretion to the universities. Therefore, such activities cannot be considered business or commercial services. It was also argued that GST applies only to activities in the course of business, and statutory functions fall outside this scope.
