9911796707
TMI Blog2006 (7) TMI 22X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... llied Ind. Ltd. is a Central Excise assessee engaged in the manufacture of Sugar. In the year 1999-2000, it received an amount of Rs. 75 Lakhs as consideration for technical service rendered to M/s. Krishna Tax port Industries Ltd. When this receipt came to its notice, Revenue issued a show cause notice alleging that the service rendered attracted Service Tax as 'Engineering Consultancy Services'. Accordingly, a Tax demand of about Rs. 4 lakhs was raised. 3. The assessee resisted the demand and contended that Service Tax as "Engineering Consultancy" was attracted when service was rendered by a "Professionally qualified Engineer or Engineering Firm". The contention was that the assessee is not an Engineering Firm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was amended in the Budget of 2006 so as to substitute the term "an engineering firm", with the words "any body corporate or any other firm". The submission is that the amendment makes it clear that prior to it, the levy was confined to engineering firms and did not extend to non-engineering firms, even if engineering consultancy was provided by such a firm. The learned Counsel for the appellant has also relied on the judgment of the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court in the case of M.N. Dastur & Company Ltd. Vs. Union of India, reported in 2006 (2) S.T.R. 532 ₹ 1(Cal.) in support of the contention that unless the Engineering Consultancy Service provider is an engineering Organization, be it a firm or a company, the ta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... stances to others. This cannot make them engineering organization. A contrary view would make a food trading organization an engineering firm merely because it has in house-engineering ability to oversee the designing and construction of storage facility. Similarly, a bank may employ engineers in connection in connection with project evaluation. Evidently, employment of a few engineers cannot convert a trading firm or a bank to an engineering firm. If the intention was, from the beginning, to impose service tax on any engineering consultancy service, irrespective of the provider, broader terminology would have been used in the definition clause. 9. When the issue as to whether an engineering company will also come within the scope of an &# ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vise which is integrally connected with the "engineering discipline". Therefore, when an engineer gives his advice or when engineer form an association or a firm or a company consisting of engineers rendering their service or services as "consulting engineer" within the meaning of Section 65 (72) (g) of the Finance Act cannot have any separate footing than that of the definition given in the said section. Therefore, in my opinion, the petitioners are well within the said definition and therefore, there cannot be any exemption whatsoever in respect of the petitioner No. 1. In my opinion, the question is to see the rendering of the service in what capacity-if it is consulting engineer in my opinion certainly they will attr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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