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2015 (11) TMI 1048 - AT - Service TaxRefund of service tax - developer unit in SEZ - claim of refund prior to the exemption notifications no 9/2009-ST issued - first appellant authority denied the refund for the reason that (a) the exemption is available only to service tax paid after the notification has come into force (paragraph 3 of notification 9/2009-ST dated 3 rd March 2009) and (b) that the applicant had not sought refund within six months of payment of tax (condition (f) in paragraph 2 of notification 9/2009-ST dated 3 rd March 2009) the objective of such an unambiguous procedure is amply clear. Held that:- Admittedly, the notification 9/2009-ST was not in existence and, hence, not the basis of the claim preferred by the appellant before the jurisdictional Central Excise officer. At the same time, it is, undoubtedly, the operational procedure put in place for implementing the provision in the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 granting exemption of service tax for authorized operations. It is also the first such enabling procedure after the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 was brought into force on 10 th February 2006. From the notifications of 2009 issued by Department of Revenue, it is clear that the test of utilization of service for authorized operations is left to the wisdom of the Approval Committee and the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner regarding its actual utilization. This is in conformity with the scheme envisaged by the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005. The approval of the Approval Committee is not in question in the instant case. However, the original authority could not find a link between the service rendered by M/s NSDL and the operations of the appellant as developer/unit in the Zone. The two lower authorities have erred in arriving at this conclusion. The undertaking in the Zone was the sole investment of the appellant and hence any service provided to the appellant cannot but be in relation to its authorized operations. Provisions of section 26 of Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 are conferred with a primacy that cannot be denied, diluted or denigrated owing to delay in devising a facilitative mechanism that was agreeable to Revenue. Disregard of parliamentary intent to levy a tax or exempt a tax cannot be brooked under any circumstance. A harmonious construction of the exemption notification 4/2004-ST dated 31 st March 2004 that preceded the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 with that Act must perforce be the facilitative mechanism in the absence of any other. A misconceived notion, as entertained by the lower authorities about that distinction between the corporate office address and the site address, should not be allowed to hold sway when confronted with the factual matrix of its exclusive existence in a Special Economic Zone; consequently, there can be no doubt that the services provided by M/s NSDL was for the authorized operations in a Special Economic Zone. - Decided in favour of assessee.
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