Case Law Details
GET Water Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Vs Additional Commissioner of GST and Central Excise (Madras High Court)
Central Government has clarified that services rendered by operators of common effluent treatment plant by way of treatment of effluent, shall be exempt from the levy of service tax. In order to further clarify the matter Notification No.8/2017-S.T. was issued on 20.02.2017 reiterating specifically that the exemption granted from the levy of service tax on the services of operation of CETP was available even for the period between 01.07.2012 and 31.03.2015. This, to my mind clarifies the position that from 20.06.2012 till the inception of Goods and Service Tax on 01.07.2017, the services rendered by operators of CETP stands outside the ambit of levy of service tax.
A counter has been filed by the respondent, where there is no serious objection set forth to the entitlement of the petitioner to the exemption sought for, in law. The only objection taken is that the authority was justified in passing the impugned order in the light of the total non co-operation on the part of the petitioner to the adjudication proceedings. Not even a reply was filed to the show cause notice issued, not was there personal attendance.
However, an assessment has to be framed in accordance with law and application of all relevant notifications/circulars/ clarifications issued by the Board/Government. In this case, the eligibility to the exemption sought has not been denied by the department and rightly so. Thus, the defence that the assessment is correct in the light of the assessee non co-operation is not a defence at all, and is rejected.
FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER / JUDGMENT
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