2015 (11) TMI 162 - SCH - Service Tax

Sponsorship of the IPL matches - whether the service falls within the exclusionary clause of Section 65 (105) (zzzn) of the Finance Act 1994 - Supreme Court after hearing the parties dismissed the appeal as being devoid of merit. The appeal was filed by Revenue against the decision of Tribunal 2013 (4) TMI 428 - CESTAT NEW DELHI ; wherein Tribunal held that Sponsorship is not in relation to sports events but is sponsorship of BCCI / IPL. No justification for the adjudicating authority s assumption that since there is an underlying commercial element in the IPL events the sponsorship which is otherwise in relation to a sports event is not so. In the absence of any limiting words or phrases in the provision (excluding sponsorship of sports events having a commercial purpose from the benefit of immunity to service tax) the adjudicating authority cannot engraft its own policy choices and preferences to the legislatively conferred immunity.