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TMI Blog2008 (8) TMI 176X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... viders were also brought within the purview of service-tax w.e.f. 16th July, 1997. Thereafter respondent No.4, i.e., the Superintendent, Service-tax, Agartala Range, issued notices to the writ petitioner for depositing service-tax . Since the petitioner was of the view that he was only a collector of service-tax on behalf of the Department, he requested the ONGC to reimburse the service-tax from the period from October, 2004 to Aug., 2005 by way of raising supplementary bills on 29th Dec, 2005. Prior to that the ONGC was reminded about their liability to pay service-tax vide letter dt. 5th Dec.,2005 (Annex.6). However, the ONGC did not accede to the prayer of the petitioner and on the other hand Service-tax Department threatened to take coe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2 which is reproduced below : "10. Tax liability.- 10.1 ...... 10.2 Service-tax/sales-tax applicable if any, to the service under this contract shall also be responsibility and payable by contractor. ONGC may, however, deduct tax(es) at source in accordance with applicable rules/regulations/laws/Acts of the Government concerned." 6. For effective disposal of the writ petition it is also necessary to quote the relevant provisions of the Finance Act, 1994, which are as below: "65. Definitions. - In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires,- (1) ... (2) 'assessee' means a person responsible for collecting the service-tax payable under the provisions of this chapter and includes his agent; (3) to 6 ... (7) 'perso ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... under the Finance Act, 1994 being service provider, it is his liability to pay the service-tax . However, learned Asstt. Solicitor General submitted that whether the writ petitioner is entitled to get reimbursement of the same from the ONGC, it is not the concern of the Tax Department. 9. On the other hand, Shri Deb, learned senior counsel for the respondents-ONGC submitted that since the contract agreement is clear with regard to the liability of the contractor for payment of service-tax it would not be proper for this Court to change the language of the stipulation as it would amount to re-writing the contract. The learned counsel for the respondents-ONGC submitted that the reimbursement of Rs.62,476 was made against a new work order wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h imposes limited liability upon the assessee to collect the service-tax from the consumer and pay to the Department. 12. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner the work order dt. 3rd Nov.,2006 was a continuation of the work orders issued under the NIT dt.22nd Feb.,2002 and as such the clarification given in the sub-sequent work orders should be applied to the previous work orders as well. However, according to Shri Deb, the learned counsel for the ONGC. the work order dt. 3rd Nov., 2006 is an independent work order containing its own terms and conditions and as such the terms of this work order cannot be read into previous work orders. The learned counsel for the respondents-ONGC also submitted that the NIT dt. 22nd Feb.,2002 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itions incorporated in the NIT all the disputes and differences should be referred to the arbitrator and as such disputes should be decided in accordance with the arbitration law. However, the objection is not sustainable for two grounds. Firstly the writ petition was filed in the month of September, 2007 and interim order was also passed in favour of the writ petitioner. Despite that the aforesaid technical objection was not raised. Besides this, the ONGC has also not raised this objection specifically in their affidavit-in-opposition. Secondly, if the disputes could have been resolved by way of arbitration, I fail to understand as to why the ONGC did not invoke the arbitration clause on receipt of the notice from the writ petitioner askin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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