Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Anil Kumar Malik, through his proprietorship M/s Anil Kumar Contractor, provided road and drainage construction services to Government and Local Authorities during financial year 2016-17 and 2017-18 (until June 2017) — a period governed by the pre-GST Service Tax regime. He claimed all such services were exempted under Notification No. 25/2012 dated 20.06.2012. He was issued a notice dated 27.09.2022 to appear before a local officer on 11.10.2022, which he could not attend, and he filed this writ petition seeking to set aside and remand the resulting order dated 30.11.2022.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner's road and drainage construction services rendered to Government and Local Authorities during 2016-17 and 2017-18 (until June 2017) were exempt from Service Tax under Notification No. 25/2012.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • His services were squarely covered by the exemption under Notification No. 25/2012 dated 20.06.2012, and the demand order dated 30.11.2022 should be set aside and remanded.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Not available in the surviving record — the respondent's Senior Standing Counsel had only accepted notice of motion when the extracted text of the order ends.

Court Order / Findings

  • Available record: the Court issued notice of motion, and the respondent's Senior Standing Counsel accepted notice on the respondent's behalf. The surviving text of the order ends mid-sentence at this stage and does not contain the Bench's final directions.

Important Clarification

The source document available for this case captures only the opening portion of the Court's order — the notice-of-motion stage and the recitation of facts — and cuts off before recording the Bench's ultimate decision on the exemption claim. This is a pre-GST Service Tax exemption dispute under Notification 25/2012, not a GST law matter, and readers should independently verify the final outcome from the official case record before relying on this order for any legal proposition.

Sections Involved

  • Finance Act, 1994 — the Service Tax charging statute applicable to the 2016-17/2017-18 (pre-July 2017) period in question.
  • Notification No. 25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 — the mega exemption notification for specified services, including certain government works.

Decision – In Favour of

Not determinable from the available record — the final order/decision of the Bench is not captured in the surviving text of this document, which ends at the notice stage.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh
  • Case No.: CWP-16783-2023
  • Neutral Citation: 2023:PHHC:102823-DB
  • Coram: Hon'ble Ms. Justice Ritu Bahri and Hon'ble Mrs. Justice Manisha Batra
  • Date of Decision: 4 August 2023

Link to Download the Order

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