Shivalik Housekeeping Services vs. Department Of Revenue And Ors
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The Petitioner, Shivalik Housekeeping Service, filed a writ petition seeking waiver of the 10% pre-deposit required to file an appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act. The Petitioner is challenging an Order in Original dated January 20, 2025, which raised a demand of Rs. 21,80,36,550/-. The Petitioner provides housekeeping services to government educational institutions and claims these services are exempt from GST under Serial no. 3, Chapter 99 of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) read with Notification No.2/2018-Central Tax (Rate). The Petitioner further submitted that it did not collect GST from its clients under the presumption of exemption.
Held
The Court held that the question of whether the clients of the Petitioner are covered by the relied-upon notifications would require a factual examination of the status of each client. The Court opined that the Appellate Authority is the appropriate forum to determine this question. Considering that the Petitioner did not collect GST and the exemption claim needs to be examined by the Appellate Authority, the Court was inclined to permit the Petitioner to file an appeal. The Appellate Authority was directed to consider the facts and determine the amount of pre-deposit payable by the Petitioner. The Petitioner was permitted to avail the appellate remedy by July 10, 2025, along with an application for determination of pre-deposit.
Key Issues
1. Whether the housekeeping services provided by the Petitioner to government educational institutions are exempt from GST in terms of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) and Notification No.2/2018-Central Tax (Rate), specifically concerning the definitions of 'pure services' and 'government entity'? Petitioner's Arguments: The Petitioner contends that the services provided are exempt from GST as they were rendered to government educational institutions, and they did not collect GST based on this understanding. They rely on Serial no. 3, Chapter 99 of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) and Notification No.2/2018-Central Tax (Rate). Revenue's Arguments: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the Respondent-Department on the merits of the exemption claim. The Respondent accepted notice.
Sections Cited
Section 107
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
O R D E R % 13.05.2025
This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
The present writ petition has been filed by the Petitioner-Shivalik Housekeeping Service under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a waiver of the prescribed pre-deposit (10% of the tax amount) for preferring an appeal under Section 107 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter ‘CGST Act’).
The Petitioner intends to prefer an appeal from the Order in Original dated 20th January, 2025 vide which a demand to the tune of Rs. 21,80,36,550/- has been raised against the Petitioner who is engaged in supply of House Keeping Services to Respondent Nos. 3, 4 and 5 which are Government Educational Institutions.
It is the Petitioner’s case that manpower services rendered to This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:01:15
Government Educational Institutions shall be exempted from the Scope of GST in terms of Serial no. 3, Chapter 99 in Notification No.12/2017- Central Tax (Rate) dated 28th June, 2017 read with Notification No.2/2018-Central Tax (Rate) dated 25th January, 2018
It is further submitted by the ld. Counsel for the Petitioner that the Petitioner, under the presumption that Government Educational Institutions were exempt from the purview of GST, had not even collected GST from the various educational establishments to whom the housekeeping services were provided.
Issue notice. The ld. Counsel for the Respondent-Department accept notice.
The issue in the present case pertains to whether the entities to whom the Petitioner rendered housekeeping services were exempt from the levy of GST, in view of the definition of ‘pure services’ and ‘government entity’ in Notification No.12/2017- Central Tax (Rate). The relevant entries are extracted below: This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:01:15
In the opinion of this Court, the question as to whether the clients of the Petitioner are covered by the relied upon notifications or not would have to be examined on facts after analysing the status of each of the clients. The Appellate Authority would be the appropriate forum to determine the above raised question.
Considering the fact that, (i) the Petitioner itself has not collected GST from its clients; and (ii) the question as to whether the entities to whom the Petitioner has rendered services were covered by the exemption or not would have to be looked into by the Appellate Authority; the Court is inclined to permit the Petitioner to file an appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act. The Appellate Authority, after considering the facts, This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:01:15
shall also determine the amount of pre-deposit to be made by the Petitioner. This order is passed in the peculiar facts of the present case.
The Petitioner is accordingly permitted to avail of the appellate remedy by 10th July, 2025 along with an application seeking determination of the pre- deposit payable, which shall be considered in accordance with law by the Appellate Authority, as directed above.
Accordingly, the present writ petition is disposed of. All the pending applications, if any, are also disposed of. PRATHIBA M. SINGH, J. RAJNEESH KUMAR GUPTA, J. MAY 13, 2025/MR/Ar. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:01:15
Reproduced from the public record of the Delhi High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.