Commissioner of C. Ex. Vs. Raymond Ltd.

1. the appellants were not paying service tax on receipt of transporters service in view of the hon'ble supreme court's decision in the case of m/s. laghu udyog bharti ltd. j. however, the effect of said judgment was nullified by enactment of 2000 with retrospective effect. thereafter, penal proceedings were initiated against the appellants for non-payment of duty during the relevant period. the original adjudicating authority confirmed the penalties @ rs.200/- per day under section 76 of the finance act, 1994 and @ rs.200/- per week under section 77 of the finance act, 1944. on appeal against the above, the commissioner (appeals) set aside the penalties; the revenue has filed appeal against the above order.2. it is seen that as per the explanation of section 117 of the finance act, 2000, no omission on the part of the assessee shall be punishable as an offence, which would not have been so punishable, if this section had not come into force. inasmuch as the service tax was not being paid, as a result of hon'ble supreme court's decision, no penalty can be justifiable imposed upon the respondents. even the larger bench of the tribunal in the case of eta engineering ltd. v. commissioner of central excise, chennai has held that bona fide of the appellants will amounts to existence of reasonable cause on their part in not depositing service tax in time and penalty should not be imposed in such a situation. in view of the foregoing, i do not find any merits in the revenue's appeal and reject the same.