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TMI Blog2006 (9) TMI 10X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or, made on 29th March, 2004 upholding the Order-in-Original imposing the penalty of Rs. 500/- under Section 75A of the Finance Act, 1994, for failure to apply for registration under Section 69 within the prescribed time limit, and further penalty of Rs, 1,000/- under Section 77 of the said Act for failure to furnish ST-3 return under Section 70 of the Act read with Rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 with the direction to obtain Service Tax Registration and pay Service Tax due forthwith, with interest and file ST-3 returns. 3. A show cause notice came to be issued on 4-11-2003 against the Assistant District Excise Officer of the Madhya Pradesh State Excise Warehouse the ground that neither Service Tax Registration was taken nor Service ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on the property of a State used for purposes other than those specified in clause (2) of that Article (see paragraph 31), that the "Storage and Warehousing Services" was not exempt from Union taxation under Article 289(1) of the Constitution and that the said activity was a commercial activity falling within the purview of Service Tax. Therefore, warehousing of Indian made for eign liquor fell within the purview of Service Tax under the category of "Storage and Warehousing Services" and the Excise Department of the State Government was required to take registration and file return. 4. The Commissioner (Appeals) found that, there was nothing in Clause (1) of Article 289 of the Constitution that would prevent the Union from imposing or autho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Tax Rules, 1994, the Appellate Commissioner held that the services provided by the appellants squarely fall within the ambit of taxable services and the charges recovered were subject to payment of the Service Tax. 6. The present appeals have been filed by the State of Madhya Pradesh rough the Assistant District Excise Officer against the Commissioners, who have made the impugned orders. Therefore, it is not a dispute between the State and the Union of India in their constitutional capacity. We, therefore, proceed to hear the appeals. 7. There is no dispute over the fact that the Service Tax is sought to be charged on the supervision charges imposed by the State Government under Section 28-A of the Madhya Pradesh Excise Act, 1915. Accor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g, exporting, transporting, storing, selling, purchasing, using collecting or cultivating the intoxicant or denatured spirituous preparations shall pay to the State Government towards the supervision charges as levy as may be imposed by the State Government in behalf: Provided that the State Government may exempt any class of person or any institution from paying the whole or any part of such levy." 8.1 It will be clear from the above provision that the "levy" could be imposed by a general or special order by the State Government in cases where it was directed that the manufacture, import, export, transport, storage etc. of any intoxicant or denatured spirituous preparations or hemp shall be under the supervision of the Excise staff appoi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of India, it is a settled legal position that the exemption provided is of property and in come of State from Union taxes and since, the import or export duties or excise duties were not taxes on property including the goods as such, but on the happening of a certain event in relation to the goods, namely, import or export of goods or production or manufacture of goods, Article 289 did not de-bar the Union from levying customs and excise duties on goods imported or manufactured by a State irrespective of whether they were used or not used for the purposes of trade and business. [See In re Sea Customs Act (1878), S. 20(2), reported in AIR 1963 SC 1760]. Therefore, the conclusion arrived at by the authorities below, on the reading of the prov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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