Case Details: J.S. Institute of Paramedical Science vs. Commissioner of Central Excise & CGST, Kanpur (2025) 36 Centax 43 (Tri.-All)
Judiciary and Counsel Details
- Shri Sanjiv Srivastava, Member (T)
- Shri Shubham Agarwal, Adv., for the Appellant.
- Shri Santosh Kumar, Authorised Representative, for the Respondent.
Facts of the Case
The appellant was providing facilities for conduct of examinations for courses conducted by an institute with which it was affiliated. It was submitted that the appellant did not provide any coaching or training to students and that the examinations were conducted by the affiliating institute using the appellant’s facilities. Service tax was sought to be levied on the fees received from students by classifying the activity under commercial coaching and training service. The appellant contended that the activity was covered under auxiliary educational services and was exempt under S. No. 9 of Notification No. 25/2012-ST, dated 20-06-2012, and further submitted that there was no suppression of facts or intention to evade payment of tax so as to invoke the extended period of limitation. The matter was accordingly placed before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT).
CESTAT Held
The CESTAT held that S. No. 9 of Notification No. 25/2012-ST, dated 20-06-2012 exempted auxiliary educational services provided to or by an educational institute. It was held that the services provided by the appellant were covered under the definition of auxiliary educational services as they were limited to providing facilities for conduct of examinations and did not involve coaching or training. The CESTAT further held that non-payment of service tax was not on account of suppression of facts and that there was no intention to evade payment of tax to justify invocation of the extended period of limitation under section 66B of the Finance Act. Accordingly, the demand of service tax along with interest and penalty was held to be not justified and the appeal was allowed.
List of Cases Cited
- Commissioner v. Reliance Industries Ltd. — 2023 (385) E.L.T. 481 (S.C.) = (2023) 8 Centax 96 (S.C.) — Followed [Para 4.5]
List of Notifications Cited
- Notification No. 25/2012-ST, dated 20-6-2012 [Para 4.4]
