Angul Sukinda Railway Limited vs. Union Of INDIA & Ors.

Facts

The petitioners, Kutch Railway Company Limited, Adani Tracks Management Services Limited, Bharuch Dahej Railway Company Limited, Angul Sukinda Railway Limited, and Haridaspur Paradip Railway Company Ltd., filed writ petitions challenging communications from the Railways. These communications asserted that Goods and Services Tax (GST) was leviable on activities undertaken by the petitioners for the Railways through project-specific Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), and vice-versa. The petitions were filed before the Delhi High Court.

Held

The Court was informed by learned counsel for the parties that by a Notification dated 12.07.2024 and a clarification dated 15.07.2024, services provided by SPVs to the Ministry of Railways and services of maintenance supplied by the Ministry of Railways to SPVs have been exempted from the levy of GST. The counsel for the Railways stated that the impugned communications would not be applied to the petitioners in light of these exemptions. The Court took on record the copies of the notification and clarification. Consequently, the Court found no further orders to be required in these writ petitions.

Key Issues

1. Whether GST is leviable on activities undertaken by the petitioners for the Railways through project-specific SPVs and vice-versa, as contended by the Railways in their communications. The petitioners argued that GST should not be leviable on these activities. The Revenue (Union of India and Railways) initially contended that GST was leviable. However, during the proceedings, the Revenue acknowledged that subsequent official pronouncements had altered the position. The Revenue relied on a Notification dated 12.07.2024 and a clarification dated 15.07.2024, which exempted services provided by SPVs to the Ministry of Railways and services of maintenance supplied by the Ministry of Railways to SPVs from the levy of GST.