Ravindra Nath Singh Vs Commissioner (CESTAT Allahabad)
The appeal challenged Order-in-Appeal No. 02/ST/Appl/Alld/2026 dated 15.01.2026, whereby the Commissioner (Appeals), CGST and Central Excise, Allahabad upheld the confirmation of service tax demand relating to services provided to the Executive Engineer, Irrigation Construction Division, Robertsganj and Executive Engineer, Bundhi Division-II, Robertsganj, Sonbhadra. The appellant sought setting aside of the remaining demand and consequential penalties.
The appellant was registered with the Rural Engineering Services (RES) Department of the Uttar Pradesh Government, a nodal agency for construction work undertaken for Government and Semi-Government bodies. During the Financial Year 2016-17, the appellant received payments from Executive Engineer, Irrigation Construction Division, Robertsganj, Executive Engineer Irrigation, Bundhi Division-II, Rural Engineering Services, Zila Panchayat Varanasi and Zila Panchayat Chandauli. The appellant was registered under the U.P. VAT Act but was not registered with the Service Tax Department, believing that the services rendered were not liable to service tax. Before the adjudicating authority, the appellant produced Exemption Notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012, certificates issued by Rural Engineering Services regarding the contract work, abstracts of agreements and bills of quantity, work orders issued by Zila Panchayat Varanasi and Chandauli, Form 26AS for 2016-17 and 2017-18, and VAT assessment orders for the relevant financial years.
