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2016 (8) TMI 553 - AT - Income TaxData/ signal transmission - receipt of signal/data which was retransmitted by the assessee-company in India - India-U. K. DTAA - P.E. in India - assessee engaged in providing satellite capacity through space segment and related services to the Indian customers - Held that:- The assessee is maintaining an equipment in India through its associated enterprise for the purpose of testing quality of signal retransmitted in India. Therefore, this Tribunal is of the considered opinion that so long as the assessee is maintaining any equipment in India, it has to be construed that the assessee is rendering services in India. Now, the assessee claims that the equipment installed at Chandigarh and Chennai was dismantled from the year 2004. However, dismantling of machinery/ equipment installed at Chandigarh and Chennai is not brought on record by the authorities below. The assessee has to maintain the quality of signal which was retransmitted. If the quality of the signal/data is very poor then the recipient company may not accept the service as it was claimed before this Tribunal. Therefore, there is an obligation on the part of the assessee-company to maintain good quality of signal/data to be retransmitted so that Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. or other companies which may redistribute the signal to their respective customers. Therefore, this Tribunal is of the considered opinion that it is obligation on the part of the assessee to maintain the quality of signal/data which was retransmitted. If the assessee-company dismantled the equipment/ machinery installed at Chandigarh and Chennai in the year 2004, it is not known how the assessee is testing the quality of signal retransmitted to India. The so-called earth station maintained by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. and other companies in India may be downlinking the signal/data from the satellite. The question arises for consideration is whether the earth station said to be maintained by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. and other companies could receive signal/data without any intervention by the assessee-company in India. This fact was not examined by both the authorities below. Further, how the signals were received in India without intervention of the assessee-company needs to be examined. This Tribunal is of the considered opinion that the technical experts from Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. or very any other companies which entered into agreement with the assessee- company needs to be examined about the mode of receipt of signal/data which was retransmitted by the assessee-company in India. Since the Assessing Officer has not examined the technical experts, this Tribunal is of the considered opinion that to appreciate the real services rendered by the assessee, the matter needs to be reexamined by the Assessing Officer. Accordingly, the orders of the lower authorities are set aside and the entire issue is remitted back to the file of the Assessing Officer. The Assessing Officer shall reexamine the matter afresh after examining the technical experts from Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. who is responsible for maintaining the earth station in India or any other companies which has entered into similar agreement with the assessee and bring on record the actual services rendered by the assessee consequent to the agreement said to be entered into telecasting companies/telecom operators and, thereafter, decide the issue in accordance with law after giving a reasonable opportunity to the assessee. - Decided in favour of assessee for statistical purposes.
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