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TMI Blog2023 (8) TMI 1295X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r suppression of material facts or misrepresentation of facts, shall render such ruling to be void ab initio in accordance with Section 104 of the Act. 5. The provisions of both the Central Goods and Service Tax Act and the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act are the same except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the Central Goods and Service Tax Act would also mean a reference to the same provisions under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act. 1. The applicant submitted a copy of challan dated 24.06.2022 evidencing payment of application fees of Rs. 5,000/- each under sub-rule (1) of Rule 104 of CGST Rules 2017 and SGST Rules 2017. The online application form for advance ruling dated 27.06.2022 was physically received on 28.06.2022 as mandated under Rule 107A. 2.1 The Tamil Nadu Nurses and Midwives Council (hereinafter referred to as "Applicant") was formed under The Tamil Nadu Nurses and Midwives Act, 1926. It is an act to provide for registration of Nurses, Midwives, Health Visitors, auxiliary Nurse-Midwives and dhais in the State of Tamil Nadu. 2.2 The said Act vide Section 11, inter ali ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment can initiate proceedings under section 73 and 74 of the Act under various situation; one among the situation is inspection /survey by the department U/s 67; GST officials inspected their council office and called for certain details; personal hearing was made and details were collected including summon issued for which Registrar attended and gave her statement. Only inspection was done by the department under section 67 which is only a process to initiate the proceedings and a proceeding under GST Act. Further no SCN or order was issued before the application filed for AAR on 28/06/2022 and no notice was served on the applicant for initiation of proceedings under section 73 and 74 of the GST Act. Therefore, the applicant is eligible for a ruling from Authority for Advance Ruling. 2.7 The applicant also made a claim that the functions entrusted to the applicant by the Government of Tamil Nadu come under public health as stated in Sl. No. 6 of Article 243W of the Constitution of India. The said service to the government qualifies for exemption as pure service to government vide Sl. No. 3 of Notification No. 12/2017 CT (Rate), dated 28.06.2017. 2.8 The applicant vide letter dat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ory body. The concerned authorities of the Centre and State were addressed to report if there are any pending proceedings against the applicant on the issues raised by the applicant in the ARA application and for comments on the issues raised. 4.2 The concerned State said authority vide letter RC No. 524/2022/A4 dated 03.08.2022, inter alia, stated that Tamil Nadu Nurses and Midwives Council is an autonomous body. As per GST Act, a statutory body, corporation or an authority created by the parliament or a State Legislature is neither 'Government' nor a local authority'. Such statutory bodies, corporations or authorities are normally created by the Parliament or a State Legislature in exercise of the powers conferred under article 53 (3) (b) and article 154 (2) (b) of the Constitution respectively. They are separate from the State and cannot be regarded as the Central or a State Government and also do not fall in the definition of 'local authority'. Thus, regulatory bodies and other autonomous entities would not be regarded as the government or local authorities for the purpose of GST Acts. Therefore, the Council which is a regulatory body is liable to be regist ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fication. The said incident report was issued after the statement deposed by Registrar of the applicant on 18.04.2022 and 14.06.2022. The DGGI vide letter dated 28.07.2022 sent copy of the said statements along with the details of various fees collected by the applicant from 01.07.2017 to 2021-22. 6.1 We have carefully considered the submissions made by the applicant in the advance ruling application, the additional submissions made during the personal hearings and the comments furnished by the Centre and State Tax Authorities. The applicant filed advance ruling application for determination of the liability to pay tax on service, within the meaning of that term as per Section 97(2)(e) of GST Act, 2017. We also take cognizance of the fact that subject matter of the application viz collecting various fees by the applicant fulfills the requirement of Section 95(a) of the Act. However, while we examine the application of the applicant in terms of Section 98 (2), we find that the questions raised in the application are being investigated by DGGI, which states that the Authority shall not admit the application where the question raised in the application is already pending or decided i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mercial, Government and quasi-Government, statutory bodies, etc, hitherto not registered under any of the indirect tax laws to seek clarification on the taxability or otherwise of their activities after introduction of the GST Act, 2017, where the applicant is also not an exception. 8.4 However, first proviso to Section 98(2) restricts admitting application seeking advance ruling on questions which are already pending in any proceedings in the case of an applicant under any of the provisions of the Act. 8.5 We find the term 'proceedings' is used in many Sections of the Act and some of the Sections are Section 6 - Authorisation of officers of State tax or Union territory tax as proper officer in certain circumstances, Section 29 - Cancellation or Suspension of registration, Section 36 - Period of retention of accounts, Section 50 -Interest on delayed payment of tax, Section 52 - Collection of tax at source, Section 54 -Refund of tax, Section 66 Special audit, Section 67 - Power of inspection, search and seizure, Section 73 - Determination of tax not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit wrongly availed, Section 78 - Initiation of recovery proceedin ..... 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