New Delhi: The Supreme Court in a recent order upheld the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) ruling and held that Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust is liable to pay Rs 4.5 crore to tax authorities for charging an entry fee for organising Yoga camps.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan refused to strike down the order passed by the Allahabad CESTAT bench against Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna run Patanjali Trust.
In October 2023, the tribunal ruled that Yoga camps organised by Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust took fees for participation from participants and thus fall under the category of health and fitness service and attract service tax. The ruling came after Ramdev appealed against the order by the Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise of Meerut, that raised the service tax demand of Rs 4.5 crore for the period between October, 2006 to March, 2011, with a penalty and interest, PTI reported.
It was found that the Patanjali Trust under Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna organised Yoga training at various residential and non-residential camps and took money in the form of donations from participants.
The CESTAT held that money was collected from the participants by way of donation for these camps and as entry fee.
