The Tribunal held that in the whole transaction, no service recipient exists and, therefore, there is no question of providing any service to any person

The New Delhi bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal ( CESTAT ) has held that service tax is not demandable on sale proceeds of auction of abandoned imported goods. M/s. Container Corporation of India Ltd. is engaged in providing cargo handling service, storage and warehousing, and renting of immovable property services to its customers through various Inland Container Depot ( ICD ) and Container Freight Station ( CFS ). A Show cause notice was issued to the appellant on the allegation that the charges accrued to CONCOR in terms of Section 150(2)(d) of the Customs Act, 1962 are for the ground rent/storage rendered towards the un-cleared/un-claimed cargo of the importer, which is liable to service tax amounting to Rs.5,12,81,495/- not paid during the period 20.10.2011 from October 2010 to 2014-2015. The Adjudicating Authority by the impugned order dropped the demand of the service tax. The issue considered in the impugned order was whether the amount accrued to CONCOR under Section 150(2)(d) of the Customs Act, 1962 is a consideration for the provision of storage and warehousing services. Notification No. 12/2003-S.T., dated 20-62003 exempts so much of the value of goods and materials sold by the service provider to the recipient of service, from the Service Tax leviable thereon under Section 6 of the Act, subject to the condition that there is documentary proof specifically indicating the value of the said goods and materials. It was observed that whether the service tax can be demanded on the sale proceeds of the auction of the abandoned imported goods is no longer res integra and has been decided in favour of the assessee and it has been settled that in the whole transaction, no service recipient exists and, therefore, there is no question of providing any service to any person. A two-member bench of Ms Binu Tamta, Member (Judicial) Ms Hemambika R Priya, Member (Technical) held that in the whole transaction, no service recipient exists and, therefore, there is no question of providing any service to any person. S.K. Meena, Authorised Representative for the appellant and Rohan Pahwa and Mr. Chintu Kumar appeared for the respondent.