TMI Blog2017 (7) TMI 299X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... chnical) Present for the Appellant: Mr. Paul P. George(Admn. Officer) Present for the Respondent: Mr. Sanjay Jain, D.R. ORDER Per: B. Ravichandran The appeal is against order dated 17.09.2013 of Commissioner (Appeals), Central Excise, Bhopal. The appellant is part of Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA), Ministry of Defence, Government of India entrusted with the responsibility of providing quality check of defence stores in respect of armaments meant for Army, Navy and Air Force. They have dual responsibility of providing quality assurance of armaments stores manufactured by Ordinance Factory, Khamaria and also stores manufactured by other Ordinance Factory and dynamic proof of ammunition and weapons ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing the quality check and are not liable to Service Tax. 3. The ld. Representative also relied on the recent decision of the Hon ble Jammu Kashmir High Court in OWP No.1391/2010 filed by various manufacturers of Short Gun challenging the levy of Service Tax on such charges. 4. We have heard both the sides and perused the appeal records. We note that the very same issue regarding the Service Tax liability of such charges has been examined, in detail by the Hon ble J K High Court, in the above mentioned case. The Hon ble High Court observed that the appellants are not liable to Service Tax on the testing fee paid to them by the licensed manufacturers of Guns. The relevant portion of the judgement is reproduced below:- On facts ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g of shot guns is similar to testing of gas cylinders, boilers and certificate given is similar to those given by RTO and electrical inspectorate. Hence on the same lines, I hold that the activity carried out by the notice pertaining to safety and health of the public which is mandated by the statutory requirement under the Indian Law. Therefore, such activities are purely in public interest and are undertaken as mandatory and statutory functions. These age not to be treated as services provided for a consideration. As It involves the safety of the public and it is bounden duty of the State to protect its citizens. Therefore, such activities assigned to and performed by a sovereign/ public authority under the provisions of any law, d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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