SC agrees to hear plea on imposition of service tax on lawyers

The Supreme court on Monday agreed to hear several petitions challenging a Bombay High Court order on an imposition of service tax on lawyers on service provided by them to the litigants.

A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and A M Khanwilkar also allowed various petitions seeking transfer of cases on this issue from different high courts to the Supreme Court.

The appeal filed by Bombay Bar Association and advocate P C Joshi has challenged the Bombay High Court order which had dismissed the plea challenging the government notification on imposition of service tax on lawyers.

The petitioners have challenged a provision of the Finance Act, 1994, inserted by the Finance Act, 2011, which sought to levy service tax on fees paid by clients to advocates.

The provision was earlier challenged by various Bar Associations and lawyers in different parts of the country and several high courts, including Delhi High Court, had stayed the operation of the impugned section while keeping the matter pending.

The petitions filed in the Bombay High Court were dismissed in December 2014, which was then challenged before the apex court.

The apex court had in August 2015 issued notice on the petitions and stayed the operation of Bombay High Court order.