Central Excise drops service tax notice to 4 BJP offices for Modi rally collections

BJP reacted sharply saying the UPA government "has now invented a new curious method", which it hopes can tackle Modi

The Director General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) on Tuesday hastily withdrew notices sent to four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) offices demanding service tax on prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rallies after an angry reaction from the main opposition party that questioned the government's motive.

The DGCEI officials said the notices to the Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab units of the BJP by its Ludhiana regional unit stood withdrawn.     

The officials did not give any reason for deciding to withdraw the notices issued on February 12.     

In its letters to the BJP units,  the DGCEI had asked them about the details of the amounts collected and service tax paid, if any, in regard to entry tickets to various rallies organised in the region after July 1, 2012.     

It said neither the party nor Modi was registered under service tax and no service tax had been paid on collection from tickets.     

BJP leader Arun jaitley reacted on his blog. "Absurd it may sound, they now propose to tax Modi's rallies. Considering the mammoth crowds who gather to listen to Modi all over the country, this can be the finance minister’s faint hope of augmenting his otherwise depleting revenue,"

"Narendra Modi is indeed a problem for the Congress Party. It is precisely for this reason that the Congress/UPA has used every method, fair or foul to counter him. They are still at sea how to deal with him," Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said.