2009 (6) TMI 894 - AT - Service Tax

Summary

The judgement by Appellate Tribunal CESTAT NEW DELHI, delivered by Shri P.K. Das, J., involved an application for waiver of pre-deposit of penalty under Sections 77 and 78 of the Finance Act, 1994. The applicant, represented by a Chartered Accountant, claimed that they failed to deposit taxes for the period April 2000 to November 2006 due to ignorance of the law, but subsequently paid the tax with interest in January 2007. The original authority imposed penalties under Sections 76, 77, and 78, which were dropped by the Commissioner (Appeals) except for the penalty under Section 78. The Tribunal found that the penalty under Section 78 was imposable due to non-payment of tax detected during investigation. While the Tribunal did not accept the ignorance of law as a valid reason for non-payment, it directed the applicants to deposit Rs. 1 lakh within 6 weeks. Upon this deposit, the pre-deposit of the remaining penalty amount would be waived, and recovery stayed until the appeal's disposal. The compliance was to be reported by 18th August 2009, and the Registry was instructed to link this appeal with the Revenue's appeal No. ST/193/09.