Jurisprudentiol – Thursday's cases

By Vijay Kumar

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

Providing technology application system for e-seva for payment of utility bills - Department not sure of classification of service - no tax liability - CESTAT

E-Seva is a service project of the Andhra Pradesh Government, establishing a single window where you can pay utility bills like Electricity, water, telephone, property tax etc,. The Service Tax Department wanted to tax this activity, but had no clue as to which service it would fall under.

Income Tax

Whether sum paid for termination of agreement which resulted into restructuring and reorganisation of profit-earning apparatus is capital in nature - YES, says ITAT

THE issues before the Tribunal are - Whether the amount paid for termination of an agreement which resulted into restructuring and reorganization of the profit earning apparatus of the assessee group is capital in nature and whether the expenditure which was incurred for ward off competition is allowable as revenue expenditure or can be amortised over a period of time for which the agreement is effective. And the verdict goes against the assessee.

Central Excise

Once a person is accused of an offence, Article 20(3) of Constitution - No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself applies to him - High Court

IT is well settled by the Supreme Court that for the operation of Article-20 (3), no "formal" accusation by the issue of process of the Court is required and the immunity Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India would commence, from the moment the person has been named by the officers who are competent to launch the prosecution against him as having committed of an offence and from that moment, such a person become the "accused of an offence" within the meaning of Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India. The petitioner has been named by the Inspector of Central Excise (in the ground of his arrest), as a person who is liable for punishment under Section 9AA of the Central Excise Act and is therefore, clearly a person who is entitled to the protection guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

See our columns Tomorrow for the Judgements