No Service Tax on Leasing of water bodies for fishing rights

Department of Fisheries Vs Commissioner of Central Excise & Service Tax (CESTAT Delhi) Leasing of water bodies for fishing purposes is same as leasing of vacant land for aquaculture and therefore, same is fully covered under the exclusion clause of Section 65 of the Finance Act, 1994 and hence not leviable to Service tax. Thus, it can be seen that fishing/ aquaculture is part of the broader definition of agriculture and thus exempted from levy of service tax. Agriculture being in the negative list of items under Section 66D of the Finance Act, 1994 is not leviable to service tax and thus f...