ORDER
Jyoti Balasundaram, Vice-President
1. The application for waiver of pre-deposit of service tax of Rs. 1,21,31,000/- and penalty of Rs. 2,42,62,000/- arises out of the order of the Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals). The applicants are the recipients of services in the nature of technical know-how etc. from M/s. Cadbury Schweppes Overseas Ltd., London.
2. On hearing both sides and noting that the entire period, i.e. July 1997 to September 2001, is prior to 2002 when the relevant provision of the Service Tax Rules [Rule 2(1)] was amended so as to make the service recipient liable for payment of service tax and noting the decision of the Tribunal in Bajaj Auto Ltd. v. CCE&C, Aurangabad , we are of the view that a strong pritna facie case for waiver has been made out. We, therefore, dispense with the pre-deposit and stay recovery pending the appeal.
3. Having regard to the high stakes involved, we fix the appeal for hearing on 6-6-2005.
(Dedicated in Court)