𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗵 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 📢 The Tribunal held: "If the principal has discharged the duty on behalf of its agents, the question of who made the payment is merely procedural and does not impact government revenue."

🔍 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: M/s Channel Management and Marketing 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: Whether the appellant must discharge service tax when the principal (SETD) has already paid it? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: The appellant collected fees for TV channels as per their contract with M/s Set Discovery Pvt. Ltd. (SETD). The department alleged that the appellant, rather than SETD, was liable to pay service tax.

⚖️ 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: The Tribunal ruled: Since SETD paid the applicable service tax, there is no revenue loss to the government, making the issue of who paid procedural. The appellant’s belief in non-liability was bona fide; thus, the extended period cannot be invoked. The appeal was allowed on both merit and limitation grounds.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: M/s Channel Management and Marketing vs. Commissioner of Central Excise, Chandigarh-I 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼. 4081 Of 2012 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 31 October 2023 📜 This ruling clarifies that if the principal has paid the service tax, agents are not required to do so again, and such procedural issues do not justify further liability.