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TMI Blog2025 (5) TMI 153X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... education to the students however was not registered with the service tax department. The department gathered an intelligence that despite collecting affiliation fee, inspection fee, no objection fee etc. from the affiliated colleges. The appellant was also providing renting of immovable property service to various parties. However, the following amount of service tax was not paid on the respective activities: Period Taxable amount Service Tax (inclusive cess) Affiliation fee (from financial year 2012-13 to 2016-17) 27,33,25,744/- 3,63,46,131/- Rental income (From July 2012 to March 2017) 20,14,211/- 2,64,373/- Total 27,53,39,955/- 3,66,19,504/- 3. After due investigation in the matter the show cause notice No. 54/ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... de which the decision of Hon'ble Karnataka High Court in the case of Rajeev Gandhi University of Health Sciences [2022 (64) GSTL 465] has been accepted. It was submitted that demand vis-à-vis affiliation fee as was announced in Writ Petition No. 856/2022 decided on 30.07.2024. With respect to renting of immovable property services, it is mentioned that the amount received by the appellant with respect to service was below the threshold limit of Rs. 10 lakhs. Hence for rendering this activity also the appellant was not liable to pay any tax. This was the reason for not seeking any registration with the service tax department the liability is mentioned to have wrongly confirmed. With these submissions, the order under challenge is pray ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in favour of assessee. The decision of Hon'ble Karnataka High Court has been accepted by Hon'ble Supreme Court. The High Court had held : "The purpose of consideration is to put some legal limits on enforceability of agreements, in the sense that only those promises which are supported by consideration are enforceable, and others not binding, despite intent of the promisor to be bound by. Consideration is an index of the seriousness of the parties to be bound by the bargain. It also serves evidentiary and formal functions. Lord Denning in Combe v. Combe [1951] 3 ALL ER 767 said. The doctrine of consideration is too firmly fixed to be thrown by a side wind...it still remains a cardinal necessity of the formati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me person is called to perform on payment of an amount of money, then the performance becomes an activity for a consideration; (d) In the above backdrop, let us examine which has yielded income to the respondent University. This word is not defined either in the RGUHS Act or in the Finance Act. The word 'affiliation' is derived from Latin word affiliare which means to adopt as a son'. In Ramanath Iyer's 'The Law Lexicon, it is described as under: "Affiliation of collect. To university means such a connection between an existing university and a college as shall be entered into by their mutual consent, under the conditions approved by the University Commissioners or other proper authorities." The Apex Court in Bharatiya Education Societ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cularly, when they do not have commercial elements, as rightly contended by Mr Raghuraman. Added, the idea of 'activities carried on for consideration' as employed in the definition u/s 65B(44) of the Finance Act ordinarily obtains in the realm of freedom of contract and not in the field of public law. 0f course, the concept of sovereign function being impertinent, does not factor in the discussion. The function related to affiliation cannot be treated as a 'bundled service under clause (3) of section 66F of the Finance Act, 1994. The interests fines/penalties levialble on account of default also have a thick connect with the fees regularly leviable and therefore they would partake the character of fees only. In view of all this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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