Order date – 28 July 2022

Facts

• The appellant, Shri Ram Laxman Sthapatya Co., is engaged in providing services to military establishments. 
• The appellant could not produce the full text of the contract before the Revenue authorities and solely for that reason, the refund has been rejected.
• The appellant has provided certificates of Garrison Engineers showing the nature of work done and the date of contract, which are two relevant factors needed for processing the claim.
• The lower authorities did not examine the documents produced by appellant and rejected the refund.
• Aggrieved, the appellant has appealed before the Tribunal.

Issue

• Whether appellant is eligible to claim refund of service tax under Section 102 of the Finance Act, 1994?

Order

• The Tribunal observed that Merely because the original contracts could not be produced, due to them being covered by Official Secrets Act, the rejection of refund claim is not correct.
• The orders of lower authorities do not examine the certificates of the Garrison Engineers which prescribes not only the nature of contract but the date of contract as well. 
• The original adjudicating authorities were directed to take the Certificate of the Garrison Engineers on the face value and process the refund claim accordingly, for each contract and give finding.
• The impugned order is set aside and matter is remanded to original adjudicating authority.