9911796707
TMI Blog2013 (8) TMI 530X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ise at all - There was no evidence to show that the Government neither examined the matter and came to such a conclusion nor was there any circular or notification issued by the Government in this regard – DOYPACK SYSTEMS (PVT) LTD Versus UNION OF INDIA [1988 (2) TMI 61 - SUPREME COURT OF INDIA]. The definition had no bearing whatsoever and not applicable for interpreting the law as it stood at the relevant time - Revenue relied upon Section 65D(o) in the context of transportation of passengers by various modes such as monorail, tramways, metro rails etc - The definition came into force only w.e.f 01/07/2012 but the demands in the order pertain to the period prior to 01/07/2012 - The exemption also clearly indicated the legislative inten ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ollowing submissions: 3.1 Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is owned by the Government of India and the Government of New Delhi with 50% shareholding each and, therefore, the Delhi Metro Railway is a railway owned by the Government. 3.2 Commercial or Industrial Construction Service' as defined in Section 65(25b) excludes from its purview such activities undertaken in respect of roads, railways, transport terminals, bridges, tunnels and dams. There is no distinction made in the said definition between Government railway and non-government railway and all activities in relation to railways are excluded from the scope of the service and, therefore, there is no liability to pay service tax on the said activity undertaken by them in terms of sec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f passengers on rails. It is a public carriage. This factual position is not challenged by the respondent. 10. In view of the reasoning given above, it has to be held that Section 184 of 1989 Act grants protection from levy of taxation by a local authority to railway administration' be it a Government Railway or a Non Government Railway. The petitioner, therefore, will be entitled to protection under Section 184 of the Act to the extent it is a railway administration' as defined in section 2(32) read with section 2(25) of the 1989 Act." From the above decision of the hon'ble Delhi High Court, it is clear that DMRC is a "railway" as defined in section 2(31) of the Railways Act, 1989 and, therefore, the ratio of the above judgement w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... order, the adjudicating authority has noted that DMRC is a company formed under the Company's Act, 1956 and declared mission to operate on sound commercial lines obviating the need for government support, which indicates that DMRC is a commercial organization and, therefore, the construction service provided in respect of DMRC undoubtedly falls within the scope of Construction of Civil Structure provided to a person primarily in Commerce and is also used for commerce. 4.2 He also refers to para 3.13 wherein reference has been made to Section 66D(o) of the Finance Act, 1994 effective from 01/07/2012 where in respect of service of transportation of passengers by railways, distinction has been made among Metro, Monorail or Tramway which also ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rnment examined the matter and came to such a conclusion nor is there any circular or notification issued by the Government in this regard. In the absence of any such decision which is in the public domain, we are unable to accept the contention raised by the Revenue in this regard and reject the same totally. In other words, the law has to be interpreted as it stood, as held by the hon'ble Apex court in the case of Doypack Systems Pvt. Ltd. [1988(36) ELT 201(SC)] wherein it has been held that the notings in the government files are not relevant for interpretation of the statutes and the statute has to be interpreted by the wordings explicitly used therein and if there is no ambiguity in the language used therein, there is no need to refer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... " The above principles laid down by the Apex court needs to be followed by all the subordinate courts while interpreting the statute. 7. It is also a well known fact that the Indian Railway itself is an organization, which is meant to run on commercial basis. Recognizing these facts, there is a provision for a separate Railway-Budget to be presented before the Parliament and whenever there is a surplus, the Railways declared a dividend and pass it on to the Consolidated Fund of India. Therefore, the argument that only DMRC is run on commercial basis and not Indian Railway, is not an acceptable proposition. In view of the specific exclusion of railways' from commercial and industrial construction service, the question of imposing any Serv ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
