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TMI Blog2008 (5) TMI 15X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al Excise Act, the appellant is required to pre-deposit the amount of tax. The appellant has filed application seeking waiver of pre-deposit. 2. Heard parties at length on the said application. 3. Before adverting to the controversy involved, it may be mentioned that the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board was divided into six independent companies for carrying out different functions of the Board in consonance with the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, These companies are Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company Limited (GENCO); Madhya Pradesh Power Trading Company Limited (TRADECO); Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company (TRANSCO); Madhya Pradesh Poorv Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited; Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited; and Madhya Pradesh Pashchim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (collectively, 'DISCOMS'). As the names would suggest, GENCO generates power which is sold to TRADECO. The power purchased by TRADECO is transmitted by TRADECO to DISCOMS. DISCOMS in turn supply power, in retail, to various consumers. Show cause notice was issued to M/s Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company Ltd. (TRANSCO), the appellant herein, for pay ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Board -involving sale, firstly, by GENCO to TRADECO and then to DISCOMS, the appellant facilitates the process of sale and distribution to various points. Learned DR submitted that sale of electricity is a business and the service provided by the appellant is in relation to such business and, therefore, it falls under the net of business support service. 6. At this stage, the provisions, referred to above, may be noticed as under : 'Section 65 ...... ......... ............... (105) "taxable service' means any service provided or to be provided........ ........., (zzzq) to any person, by any other person, in relation to support services of business or commerce, in any manner; (104c) "support services of business or commerce" means services provided in relation to business or commerce and includes evaluation of prospective customers, telemarketing, processing of purchase orders and fulfillment services, information and tracking of delivery schedules, managing distribution and logistics, customer relationship management services, accounting and processing of transactions, operational assistance for marketing, formulation of customer service and pricing policies, infra stru ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efinition of 'distribution system' under Section 2(19) of the Electricity Act. 9. As mentioned above, learned counsel for the appellant had made exhaustive references to the provisions of the Electricity Act viz. Section 2(37), (50b), (67), (72), (73), Section 12, Section 14, Section 17, Section 39, Section 40 and Section 86 to highlight the scheme of the Electricity Act to substantiate the submission that the functions performed by the appellant company are statutory and pursuant to the mandate of law. In our opinion, the submission in this regard is totally beside the point. The appellant may be discharging its statutory obligations and performing statutory duties, but that is not at ail relevant to the controversy. What is relevant is whether service provided by the appellant falls within the ambit of the taxable service defined under Section 65 (105)(zzzq) read with clause (104c) of the Finance Act, and if it does, the appellant cannot escape the liability subject, of course, to any exemption which may be granted by the Central Government in accordance with law. 10. Learned advocate placed reliance on Commissioner of Gift Tax, Madras VS N.S. Getty Chettiar, 1991 (2) SCC 741 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... failure of protection system under the control of the DISCOM. 4.4 The TRANSCO shall not be responsible for any damage, whatsoever, that may be caused to any equipment installed in DISCOM's Areay of Supply on account of any fault in the system and shall not be responsible to pay any compensation for any such damage. 4.5 The Parties shall co-ordinate with one another on a regular basis in order to resolve all operational issues, including inter-connection, metering, load shedding and other day to day matters and for the said purpose shall form such Co-ordination Committee consisting of such officers as the Parties may mutually agree. 4.6 TRANSCO shall duly inform and coordinate with other parties to this Agreement regarding all changes in transmission lines/substations/assets ownership, commissioning and commencement of commercial operation of new assets and any other relevant development/changes as also the consequent changes in transmission charges payable to TRANSCO. 4.7 The Co-ordination Committees established pursuant to Clause 4.5 shall settle the Operating Procedures, which will regulate the relations between the Parties in respect of interface at different points, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -clause (zzzq) also signify the legislative intent to include services provided "in any manner" by the provider of service. 14. The expression 'in relation to' is used by the legislature to widen the scope and dimension of the subject, in order to establish a greater nexus between the activity and the service implicit in the activity. The Supreme Court had occasion to consider the import of expression 'in relation to' in the case of Doypack Systems (Pvt.) Ltd. Vs Union of India, 1988 (36) ELT 201 (SC), and it was observed as follows : 48. " Expression "in relation to" (so also "pertaining to"), is a very broad expression which pre-supposes another subject matter. These are words of comprehensiveness which might both have a direct significance as well as an indirect significance depending on the context, see State Wakf Board v. Abdul Aziz (AIR 1968 Madras 79, 81 paragraphs 8 and 10, following and approving Nitai Charan Bagchi v. Suresh Chandra Paul (66 C.W.N. 767), Shyam Lal v. M. Shayamlal AIR 1933 All. 649) and 76 Corpus Juris Secundum 621. Assuming that the investments in shares and in lands do not form part of the undertakings but are different subject matters, even then the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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