( 1 ) ). IN these petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution, the Chartered Accountants Association and the Gujarat Institute of Civil Engineers and Architects have challenged the constitutional validity of Section 88 of the Finance Act, 1997 and Section 116 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1998 levying service tax on the Consulting Engineers and Architects and also on the practising Chartered Accountants the Gujarat Institute of Civil Engineers and Architects is a registered association of Engineers and Architects of Gujarat. It has about 2600 members and Special Civil Application No. 7220/99 is filed on their behalf. Petitioner Nos. 2 and 3 in the said petition are Consulting Engineers and past/present office bearers of the said association. The Chartered Accountants Association is an association of 1000 practising Chartered Accountants in the State of Gujarat. Special Civil Application No. 469/99 is filed by the association on behalf of its members. Petitioner No. 2 in the said petition is a practising Chartered Accountant.

( 2 ) SERVICE tax was introduced by the Finance Act, 1994. Chapter V thereof contains the scheme and provisions relating to the tax. Section 66