CESTAT Hyderabad Grants ₹1.17 Cr CENVAT Credit Relief To Madhucon Sugar, Holds Electricity Non-Excisable

The Hyderabad Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 8 May held that Rule 6 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 does not permit denial of CENVAT credit on input services used for generation of electricity, since electricity is not an excisable good. Rule 6 bars CENVAT credit to the extent common inputs or input services are used for exempted goods or services.Technical Member A.K. Jyotishi and Judicial Member Angad Prasad allowed the appeal filed by Madhucon...

CESTAT Ahmedabad Sets Aside Rs 4.94 Lakh Excise Duty Against Pepsico Over Pre-Levy Aerated Water Stock

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in Ahmedabad has set aside a Rs 4.94 lakh Additional Excise Duty demand against Pepsico India Holding Pvt. Ltd. over aerated waters manufactured before the levy came into force but cleared later, holding that the department could not sustain the demand. “Since, the department has accepted the earlier orders in favour of the appellant and has not filed any appeal, therefore, now the department is prevented from taking a contrary...

CESTAT Delhi Quashes Excise Demand Against Gutka Firm; One Raw Material Receipt Can't Prove Clandestine Removal

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi has set aside an excise duty demand and penalties against R.S. Company and its partner in a gutka clandestine removal case. It found that the Commissioner relied on photocopies of six lorry receipts, DGGI re-quantification, and a formula based on alleged scented tobacco receipts without sufficient supporting evidence. A coram of President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar observed: “The...

BHEL's Excise Refund Appeal Shouldn't Have Been Dismissed Over Wrong Date In Appeal Proforma: CESTAT Delhi

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in Delhi has recently held that the Commissioner (Appeals) should not have dismissed Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited's excise duty refund appeal as time-barred solely on the basis of the date mentioned in the appeal proforma, without examining its submissions and affidavit explaining the delay. A bench of Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar remanded the matter to the Commissioner (Appeals), Bhopal, after finding that BHEL's appeal...

Concrete Mixed Near Project Site Not Ready-Mix Concrete: CESTAT Bengaluru Grants Relief To Marymatha Infra

The Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Bengaluru, has set aside a Rs. 17.53 lakh excise duty demand against Marymatha Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., holding that the concrete manufactured by the company near the Thanneermukkom Barrage construction site in Kerala was “concrete mix” and not “Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC)” liable to duty. Judicial Member Dr. D.M. Misra and Technical Member R. Bhagya Devi observed that the Revenue had failed to produce evidence showing that...

Revenue Neutrality Not Applicable To Non-Reversal Of SAD Credit In Inter-Unit Transfers: CESTAT Mumbai

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), on 5 May upheld the demand of duty, interest and penalty against Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt. Ltd. for failure to reverse the Special Additional Duty (SAD) component of CENVAT credit while transferring inputs “as such” between its units, holding that the plea of revenue neutrality is not applicable in such cases. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pati observed that the assessee's...

Sugar Syrup Used In Biscuit Manufacturing Not Marketable, No Excise Duty Payable: CESTAT Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 4 May held that sugar syrup prepared and used captively in the manufacture of biscuits is not marketable in the form in which it emerges and is therefore not eligible for central excise duty. The Bench comprising Technical Member A.K. Jyotishi and Judicial Member Angad Prasad allowed the appeals filed by Sumo Foods Pvt. Ltd. and set aside the demand confirmed by the Department. It observed: “the sugar syrup...

Waste Mud From Refining Process Not Liable To Excise Duty: CESTAT Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that “waste mud” (spent earth) generated during the refining of crude palm oil is not an excisable product under Section 2(d) of the Central Excise Act and is therefore not liable to Central Excise duty. A Division Bench comprising Technical Member A.K. Jyotishi and Judicial Member Angad Prasad set aside the duty demand and held that the adjudication rested on an invalid circular. The Tribunal ruled...

Telangana High Court Upholds Rejection of Excise Settlement Plea for Lack of Full and True Duty Disclosure

The Telangana High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by Airan Comtrax Towers Pvt. Ltd., upholding the rejection of its settlement application on the ground that it failed to make a full and true disclosure of its duty liability. A Division Bench of Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda was dealing with a challenge to the order dated February 28, 2008 passed by the Settlement Commission. The case arose from a show cause notice dated April 4, 2005 alleging clandestine...

CESTAT Chennai Orders Refund Of Excise Duty On Revised Price Not Accepted By Buyer

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai, has held that excise duty paid on a higher price claimed through supplementary invoices cannot be sustained where the buyer never accepted that price. “The contemporaneous letter dated 13.07.2015 issued by the buyer clearly establishes that the supplementary invoice was not accepted, the amount was not accounted in the books and no CENVAT credit was availed. Thus, the revised value never crystallized into a transaction...

Revenue Cannot Demand Interest On Delayed Duties Yet Deny It On Refund: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court recently held that the Revenue is bound to compensate a taxpayer for amounts wrongfully collected and retained as interest on alleged central excise duty liability arising from a customs notification, even where such amounts were recovered under an amnesty scheme. The court said, “the Revenue cannot act in contradicting ways, i.e., on one hand demanding interest from the assessee for the delay in payment of duties and on other hand refusing to pay interest on the amount...

CESTAT Sets Aside ₹3.63 Crore CENVAT Credit Demand Against India Cements Over Imported Coal

In a relief to cement major The India Cements Ltd., the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai has set aside a Rs.3.63 crore CENVAT credit demand along with interest and penalty, holding that credit cannot be denied merely because Countervailing Duty (CVD) was paid at concessional rates on imported steam coal.A Chennai bench of Judicial Member Ajayan T.V. and Technical Member Vasa Seshagiri Rao allowed the company's appeal against an Order-in-Original dated...