KANCHANDEVI SUNDERLAL KOTHARI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petition which has been filed in the public interest raises important issues relating to the recovery of taxes in respect of cellular telephone services provided by telecom operators. A list of the telecom service operators in various circles in India has been furnished. Since the issues which have been raised by the Petitioner in person are of considerable significance, a Division Bench of this Court while hearing the petition, by an order dated 17 January, 2013, requested Mr. Milind Sathe, Senior Advocate to appear as amicus curiae with the assistance of Mr. Chirag Shah, Advocate. Since the petition has been drafted by a party in person, many of the issues which would arise for consideration have not been set out as succinctly as would be expected of a presentation by a legal draftsman. Hence, during the course of the hearing, the learned amicus curiae has formulated the issues which would arise, the factual background and the applicable provisions of law. We now proceed to summarize the gist of what has emerged before the Court. The issues in the PIL pertain to recovery of taxes on account of-

(2.) The above issues are only in respect of what is known as "prepaid cellular connections". Insofar as postpaid connections are concerned, the Service Tax is recovered by the cellular operators by raising a bill and recovering the amount from the bill for a specified service period. The bill is required to include details of charges for service and the Service Tax. The assessment of Service Tax, insofar as postpaid services are concerned, is not the issue in the present PIL.

(3.) Prepaid connections are granted by cellular operators. The following entities are involved in the service: