In Brief
Adiraj Manpower Services provided personnel to Sigma for activities like material handling and assembly on a piece-rate basis. The appellant claimed these were 'job work' services exempt from service tax under Notification No. 25/2012. The Department and CESTAT held them to be taxable contract labour supply. The Supreme Court upheld the CESTAT, finding the agreement was a camouflaged contract labour arrangement. Though couched in piece-rate language, the agreement lacked crucial job work elements (specifications, quality standards, delivery schedules, breach consequences). Instead, it imposed obligations typical of labour contracts: obtaining contractor licensing, paying wages and statutory dues, maintaining discipline, and providing indemnity. Reading the agreement holistically, it constituted a pure contract labour supply, not job work.
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