Case Law Details
Principal Commissioner of CGST & Central Excise Vs Securities and Exchange Board of India (Bombay High Court)
Bombay High Court held that extended period of limitation not invocable as there was no suppression, misrepresentation or fraud committed by the assessee.
Facts- This is an appeal filed under Section 35 (G) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 at the behest of the Principal Commissioner of the Commissionerate of Goods and Services Tax impugning the order passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai (CESTAT) allowing the Service Tax Appeal at the behest of the respondent herein.
The impugned order of the CESTAT allowed the appeal of the respondent and set aside the order in original dated 02/05/2018, passed by the Principal Commissioner of the GST which has made a demand of service tax amounting to Rs.75,22,81,847/- for the period 1st July, 2012 to 31st March, 2015 under Section 73 (2) of the Finance Act, 1994, with a further demand of interest u/s. 75 of the Finance Act, 1994 on the amount of service tax demanded, in addition to which penalty of Rs.75,22,81,847/- has been imposed on the respondent in terms of Section 78 of the Finance Act, 1994; the order dated 02/05/2018 of the Commissioner further imposed a penalty of Rs.10,000/- from the respondent for not filing proper returns u/s. 70 of the Finance Act, 1994 and further confirmation of the demand of service tax from the respondent amounting to Rs.55,07,78,305/- for the period October, 2012 to September, 2013 u/s. 73(2) of the Finance Act, 1994 along with interest u/s. 75 of the said Act and further penalty of Rs.10,000/- for not filing proper returns u/s. 70 of that Act. It has also imposed penalty of Rs.5,50,77,830/-equivalent to 10 % of the sales tax amount in terms of provisions of Section 76 r/w Section 78 of the Finance Act, 1994.
Conclusion- The proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 73, however, allows for the extension of the period of limitation of one year upto five years, only in the event of the Assessee not paying service tax for reasons of fraud or collusion or wilful misrepresentation or suppression of facts or in contravention of any of the provisions of Chapter-V of the Finance Act, 1994.
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