Justice G. Raghuram, President - The issues referred for our consideration essentially involve an issue of classification of taxable services i.e., whether components of a composite transaction amounting to supply of labour/rendition of service(s), under a works contract ought to be classified only under Section 65(105)(zzzza) of the Finance Act, 1994 (the Act) - inserted by the Finance Act, 2007, w.e.f 01-06-2007, or are also comprehended within the ambit of existing (as on 01-06-2007) taxable services such as Commercial or Industrial Construction Service (CICS); Construction of Complex Service(COCS); or Erection, Commissioning or Installation Service (ECIS).

2. Integral to our charter is the interpretation of relevant provisions of the Act. CICS; COCS & ECIS are distinct, extant services defined and enumerated to be taxable services, prior to introduction of Works Contract Service (WCS).

CICS was initially introduced w.e.f 10-09-2004, termed construction service; was amended in 2005, now called CICS amplifying the scope of the service as well and is defined in Section 65(25b) r/w Section 65(105)(zzq). COCS was also introduced in 2005, defined in Sections 65(30a) & 65(91a) r/w