Delhi HC Excludes Service Tax Review Petition Period from Limitation as Investigation Was Pending

National Building Construction Company Limited Vs Union of India & Ors. (Delhi High Court)

The matter arose from an application filed in a writ petition by the petitioner challenging an investigation initiated by the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) regarding alleged non-payment of service tax. Earlier, by judgment dated 16 November 2018, the Court had held that DGCEI officers possessed all-India jurisdiction to investigate service tax matters and could issue notices under Section 14 of the Central Excise Act even when proceedings under Section 73 of the Finance Act, 1994 were not pending. The Court had also directed the petitioner to comply with notices seeking documents and evidence relating to Project Management Consultancy (PMC) charges, except those covered by a separate show cause notice issued by the Patna Commissionerate. Further, the period from 10 February 2016, when an interim stay was granted, until the pronouncement of the judgment was directed to be excluded for computing limitation for issuance of a show cause notice.

Subsequently, the petitioner filed a review petition against the judgment, which remained pending until 4 December 2020, when it was dismissed. During this period, the respondents filed an application alleging that the petitioner was not cooperating with the investigation and seeking exclusion of the period consumed in disposal of the review petition for limitation purposes.