Liquor Contractors Cannot Be Penalised For Supply Failure Due To Portal Glitches: Madhya Pradesh HC

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 8 July held that liquor contractors cannot be penalised for the Excise Department's failure to supply liquor due to technical glitches in its online portal, observing that the State cannot take advantage of its own lapse to deny relief to licensees. Justice Sandeep N. Bhatt partly allowed a batch of writ petitions filed by several liquor contractors and directed the authorities to grant relief sought by them, while declining the remaining reliefs considering the...

Procedural Lapse Cannot Defeat Excise Exemption Benefit When Notification Is Silent: CESTAT Kolkata

The Kolkata Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 20 July held that the Department cannot deny an excise exemption merely because a manufacturer did not intimate the jurisdictional Central Excise authorities before clearing goods without payment of duty when the exemption notification does not impose such a requirement. A Single Member Bench comprising Technical Member K. Anpazhakan allowed the appeal filed by Power Tools and Accessories and set aside the...

Redemption Fine Under Central Excise Law Does Not Bar Sabka Vishwas Scheme Relief: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has held that taxpayers whose goods were confiscated under the Central Excise law and who were directed to pay a redemption fine in lieu of confiscation are not excluded from the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019.It ruled that they cannot be treated as ineligible to file declarations under the Scheme merely because they were liable to pay a redemption fine.A division bench of Justice Arun Monga and Justice Maneesh Sharma passed the ruling while...

Karnataka High Court Holds CESTAT Must Decide Limitation Plea Before Remanding Excise Matter

The Karnataka High Court on 2 July held that the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) must decide a specifically pleaded limitation objection before remanding an excise dispute for adjudication on merits, as accepting the limitation plea could make further proceedings unnecessary. A Division Bench of Justices S.G. Pandit and Rajesh Rai K. disposed of the appeal filed by Lotus Printers Private Limited and directed CESTAT to decide the limitation issue while keeping its...

State Cannot Recover Unintended Benefit From Contractor After Accepting Lump Sum Contract: Telangana HC

The Telangana High Court on 9 July held that the State cannot withhold a contractor's security deposit by raising a claim of “unintended benefit” from Central Excise Duty exemption after accepting a lump-sum contract value without accounting for the exemption at the tender stage. A Division Bench of Justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Gadi Praveen Kumar dismissed the State's appeal and partly allowed the appeal filed by Gammon Engineers and Contractors Pvt. Ltd. by setting aside the liberty...

CENVAT Credit Rules Do Not Make Ownership Of Goods A Condition For Availing Credit: CESTAT Chandigarh

The Chandigarh Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that the CENVAT Credit Rules do not make ownership of goods a condition for claiming CENVAT credit. It observed that CENVAT credit is attached to inputs and not to persons. The tribunal, however, ruled that a manufacturer cannot claim credit on inputs where the contractor has availed the benefit of abatement under the Works Contract (Composition Scheme), as that would result in the same tax benefit...

Liquor Licensee Can't Avoid Licence Fee By Citing Business Losses, Natural Calamities: Himachal Pradesh HC

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that a liquor licence holder cannot back out of its obligation to pay the licence fee after voluntarily participating in an auction and accepting the licence terms, merely because the business later became commercially unviable. The court ruled that business losses, natural calamities or lower liquor prices in a neighbouring State do not dilute the contractual obligations arising from the licence A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and...

CESTAT Hyderabad Sets Aside Excise Demand On Unmachined Castings Used In Wind Turbines

The Hyderabad Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has set aside an excise duty demand against a manufacturer of unmachined castings.It held that castings specially designed and supplied for use in Wind Operated Electricity Generators (WOEGs) are eligible for excise exemption, even if they require further machining before assembly.A bench of Judicial Member Angad Prasad and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar held that Notification No. 6/2006-CE applies to...

CESTAT Hyderabad Allows CENVAT Credit On Concessional CVD, Says Importer Free To Choose Beneficial Exemption

The Hyderabad Bench of the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that an importer cannot be compelled to avail a particular exemption notification where more than one option is available. It ruled that the importer is free to choose the notification that is most beneficial. Applying this principle, the tribunal held that India Cements Ltd. was entitled to avail the CENVAT credit of the Countervailing Duty (CVD) paid at the concessional rate of one per cent/two...

Adjudicating Authorities Cannot Modify Final Orders After Appeal Period Expires: CESTAT Kolkata

On 8 July, the Kolkata Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that an adjudicating authority cannot modify a rebate sanction order after the time limit to challenge the order in appeal has expired as the authority becomes functus officio after passing the order. A Bench comprising Judicial Member R. Muralidhar dismissed the appeal filed by Wacker Metroark Chemical Pvt. Ltd. against the order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals), which had rejected the...

CESTAT Mumbai Allows KSB's Concessional Duty Claim For Boiler Feed Pumps Classified As Water Pumps

On 8 July, the Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that boiler feed pumps and condensate extraction pumps primarily designed to handle water are eligible for concessional excise duty under Serial No. 235 of Notification No. 12/2012-CE. Judicial Member S.K. Mohanty and Technical Member M.M. Parthiban held that such pumps are classifiable under Central Excise Tariff Item (CETI) 84137010 and not under CETI 84137095 as claimed by the Department and...

Gujarat HC Holds PLA Payment Cannot Result In Double Recovery, Directs ₹3.74 Cr. Credit Restoration

The Gujarat High Court on 24 June held that the Central Excise Department cannot require a taxpayer to claim a cash refund after the taxpayer has already deposited the disputed duty amount through the Personal Ledger Account (PLA), as the corresponding CENVAT credit must be restored to prevent double recovery. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati allowed the writ petition filed by Inductotherm India Pvt. Ltd. and directed the Department to re-credit Rs. 3,74,33,462...