HC stays notice of ₹5 crore service tax to Periyar varsity

HC stays notice of ₹5 crore service tax to Periyar varsity

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  12.12.2021

The Madras high court has stayed an order issued by the GST and Central Excise department demanding service tax of ₹5 crore from Periyar University, Salem for granting affiliation to colleges under the university.

Justice C Saravanan passed the interim order on the plea moved by the university challenging the demand.

Senior advocate Isacc Mohanlal representing the university said granting affiliation to colleges will not come within the ambit of service and no service tax can be levied on that basis particularly when the university is a state university.

The petitioner said the university’s roles as stated in the Periyar University Act, 1997 include devising curriculum, prescribing training modules, regulating admission of faculties, prescribing standards and infrastructure norms for colleges to be affiliated and granting of recognition and affiliation to courses conducted by the affiliated colleges.

“The authorities ought to have seen services provided by an educational institution to its students, faculty and staff are exempted. The fact that the provision includes faculty and staff too and not just the students, makes it clear that the objective behind the provision is not only to exempt purely the activity of providing education to the students, but to include all kinds of services provided by an institution to its faculty and staff as well, apart from the students,” the petitioner said.