High Court Dismisses GST Department’s Appeals as Not Maintainable for Breaching Monetary Limits:

The appeals arose from an order dated 25 September 2024 passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, which had set aside service tax demands raised against travel companies, including M/s Riya Travel and Tours India Pvt. Ltd. The proceedings originated from a show-cause notice dated 19 October 2015 seeking recovery of service tax on services allegedly rendered as an air travel agent. The demand had been confirmed by an order-in-original dated 30 May 2018, but the Tribunal subsequently ruled in favour of the assessee.

The Department challenged the Tribunal’s decision under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, read with Section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994. The High Court examined the successive CBEC instructions governing monetary limits for filing departmental appeals, including those dated 17 August 2011, 26 December 2014, 17 December 2015, 3 April 2018, 22 August 2019 and 6 August 2024.

The Court observed that the instructions dated 6 August 2024 enhanced the monetary thresholds while retaining the two relevant exceptions under the original instructions. Appeals below the prescribed limits could be pursued where the constitutional validity of a provision of an Act or Rule was challenged, or where a notification, instruction, order or circular had been held illegal or ultra vires.

The Court found that the present appeals did not fall within either exception. The Delhi High Court held that the appeals did not fall within any of the recognised exceptions to the monetary limits and dismissed them as not maintainable. However, it expressly kept the proposed substantial questions of law open, meaning that it did not decide the underlying service tax issues on their merits. All pending applications were also disposed of.