Jurisprudentiol - Monday's cases

By Vijay Kumar

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

Roads and runways are not one and same and, therefore, benefit of exemption available to maintenance or repair of roads will not ipso facto apply to runways: CESTAT

FROM the above definitions while a road is a path or way between two different places, a runway is a specially prepared surface on an airfield. The purpose for which a road is put to use and a runway is put to use are substantially different. While a road is a means of travel from one place to another for the purpose of transportation of passengers or goods or animals, the runway is not a means of travel at all. Public access is prohibited and it is only a piece of land where the aircrafts can land or take off. It is also not necessary that runways has to be built on land. In the case of aircraft carriers, runways are built on the ship and the aircrafts land or take off from the ship.

Income Tax

Whether when assessee has not been allowed any deduction u/s 43B in earlier years, provisons of Sec 41(1) will not apply in case of grant of waiver of interest - YES: ITAT

THE issues before the Bench are - Whether when the assessee has not been allowed any deduction u/s 43B in earlier years, provisons of Sec 41(1) will not apply in case of grant of waiver of interest to the assessee and Whether when the waiver of interest is a cash benefit, the provisions of Sec 28(iv) do not apply. And the verdict goes in favour of the assessee.

Customs

Ground of unjust enrichment cannot be ground for rejecting a refund claim - question of unjust enrichment comes into play only after it is decided whether refund is sanctionable or otherwise - Matter remanded: CESTAT

BOTH the lower authorities have not given findings whether the refund is sanctionable or otherwise and straightway rejected the refund claim on the ground of unjust enrichment. It is pertinent that after finding whether the refund is sanctionable or not the authorities have to either refund the amount to the appellant or they have to credit the amount to the Fund.

See our Columns Monday for the judgements