Jurisprudentiol – Monday's cases

By Vijay Kumar

Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.Service Tax

Service Tax – maintenance of green belt - not "maintenance of immovable property" – CESTAT

The respondents were engaged for activities of growing of grass, plants, trees or fruits, vegetable, regular mowing of lawns, pruning & trimming of shrubs and cleaning of garden, would not come within the ambit of "maintenance of immovable property" .

Income Tax

bogus agricultural income shown in return – Penalty justified – High Court

THE assessee in its original return had shown under Agricultural Income a sum of Rs.3,76,222/-, which was reduced from the total income. However, in his revised return, it accepted the fact that the aforesaid income was not agricultural income and, therefore, declared the same as taxable income. Its claim that revised return was filed suo motu is not that innocent as is projected to be.

Central Excise

Waste water treatment plant is not a separate movable marketable goods and comes into existence only on assembly of parts in civil work, there is no question of levying excise duty on it. Show Cause Notice quashed – after eighteen years – High Court

Simply collecting together at site the various parts would not amount to manufacture unless an excisable movable product (say a plant) comes into existence by assembly of such parts. In the present case, as the petitioner has stated that the waste water treatment plant does not come into existence unless all the parts are put together and embedded in the civil work. Waste water treatment plant does not become a plant until the process which includes the civil work, is completed. Therefore, no commercial movable property came into existence until the assembling was completed by embedding different parts in the civil works.

See our columns Monday for the judgements