Deccan Chronicle

R&B disputes GST tax notice in HC

2 PEDDLERS HELD WITH 28 GM MDMA

- DC CORRESPOND­ENT VUJJINI VAMSHIDHAR | DC

● THE GST commission­erate directed Axis Bank and SBI Bank to freeze bank accounts belonging to the District R&B department and enable the GST department to deduct `78.12 lakh from these accounts.

Madhapur police arrested two interstate drug peddlers who both are students, and seized 28 grams MDMA and two mobile phones worth `5.70 lakh from their possession. The accused G Shyam Babu (22), a B. Tech student from Rajahmundr­y who was recently released from jail, procured MDMA from a Nigerian in Bangalore, police said.

Babu was selling the contraband to customers in Rajahmundr­y on April 4 when he met Katuri Surya Kumar (22) an engineerin­g student. They went to Bangalore and bought 30 grams of MDMA from Solman and came to the city on Tuesday, police said. Based on a tip-off, they were arrested in Madhapur while trying to sell the contraband to customers on Tuesday. Solman is absconding.

The Roads and Buildings department of Vikarabad district has approached the Telangana High Court to challenge the orders of the GST Commission­erate.

The Commission­erate directed Axis Bank and SBI Bank to freeze bank accounts belonging to the District R&B department and enable the GST department to deduct `78.12 lakh from these accounts.

The GST Commission­erate of Sanga Reddy division is claiming this amount from the government department for service tax owed for services rendered during August 2013 to June 2016.

Notices were issued to the government department in 2018, demanding Rs 26,07,568 in service tax and an equal amount in penalties. The issue has been pending since then, and recently, the GST wing instructed the banks holding R&B department accounts to freeze them.

Challengin­g this action, the Executive Engineer of Vikarabad R&B wing approached the High

Court, contesting the GST Commission­erate's directive and the imposition of service tax.

The services in question include laying optic fiber lines, road cutting and excavation, and renting out immovable properties belonging to the Roads and Buildings department.

The department informed the court that service tax is exempted for government bodies and local bodies under the Finance Act. They also referred to GST Notificati­on 1/2018, which outlines exemptions for services procured and supplied by government and local authoritie­s.

The Division Bench, led by Justice Sujoy Paul, will hear the petition on Thursday.

 ?? R. PAVAN ?? Three youngsters embark on a risky ride on Wednesday when they are caught in a short spell of rain at Ibrahimbag­h. Apart from riding the scooter with three people, they also did not wear helmets.
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R. PAVAN Three youngsters embark on a risky ride on Wednesday when they are caught in a short spell of rain at Ibrahimbag­h. Apart from riding the scooter with three people, they also did not wear helmets. —

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