Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. vs C.C.E., Jaipur-I

Appeal has been filed against Order-in-Appeal dated 24.07.2009, which upheld Order-in-Original dated 26.03.2009, in terms of which service tax

demand of Rs.31,967/- was confirmed along with interest and penalties on the ground that the appellant has not paid in the said amount of service tax

as was discovered during the scrutiny of ST-3 returns.

When the case was called, nobody appeared on behalf of the appellant nor was any adjournment request received and therefore we proceed to

decide the appeal on merit.

We find that the Commissioner (Appeals) m the impugned order has observed as under:-

I have carefully gone through the case records, grounds of appeal and submissions made by the appellant. The main issue involved in

this appeal is whether there is short payment of service tax of Rs.31,967/- by the appellant during the period October 06 to March 07. In

this regard appellant has pleaded that they have paid the said amount from Cenvat account but due to clerical mistake the same was not

shown in the ST-3 return. I find that the appellant had neither produced any evidence before the adjudicating nor at the appellant stage

which could confirm that the amount of Rs.31,967/- was paid by them from Cenvat account. Therefore, in absence of any evidence of

payment of service tax of Rs.31,967/-, I have no option but to uphold the view taken by the adjudicating authority.

We do not find any infirmity in the observations of the Commissioner (Appeals). Even at the level of CESTAT, the appellant has not produced any

evidence to show that it was a clerical mistake in ST-3 return.

In the light of the aforesaid discussion, the appeal is dismissed.