CESTAT Chandigarh Quashes ₹55 Lakh Excise Duty Demand Over Pre-1991 Duty Collections

The Chandigarh Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has set aside an excise duty demand of ₹55 lakh against Kamal Steel Fabricators. It held that Section 11D of the Central Excise Act, which requires manufacturers to deposit with the Government excise duty collected from buyers, could not be invoked for amounts collected before the provision came into force. The tribunal observed, “Any statutory provision unless expressly stated cannot be applied...

CESTAT Mumbai Sets Aside Excise Duty Demand On Crompton Greaves, Rules Type Test Charges Not Taxable

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has set aside a Central Excise duty demand against Crompton Greaves Ltd., holding that charges recovered separately for conducting "type tests" on transformers at the request of customers cannot be included in the assessable value of the goods. A bench of Judicial Member S.K. Mohanty and Technical Member M.M. Parthiban passed the ruling while allowing an appeal filed by Crompton Greaves Ltd. (Transformer...

CESTAT Mumbai Allows Mahindra & Mahindra's Appeals On Valuation Of Prototype Vehicles Sent For Testing

The Mumbai bench of the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. correctly valued prototype commercial vehicles cleared to its own unit for testing on the basis of comparable goods and not at 110% of their cost of production. The tribunal held that the valuation method under Rule 8 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules, 2000, which applies where goods are used in the manufacture of another article, was not attracted on the facts of...

CESTAT Delhi Quashes Demand On Tata Bluescope Steel, Bars Recharacterisation Of Job Work As Exempt Service

On 1 July, the Principal Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, held that job work activity already treated as “manufacture” cannot later be reclassified as an “exempted service” for the purpose of invoking Rule 6 of the CENVAT Credit Rules and raising consequential demands. A Bench of Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao allowed all three appeals filed by Tata Bluescope Steel Pvt. Ltd., set aside the orders passed by the Commissioner (Appeals), and...

Gujarat High Court Restricts Excise Rebate In Coke Exports, Rejects Moisture Loss Claim

The Gujarat High Court on 19 June held that Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 allows rebate only on the quantity of goods actually exported and not on the higher quantity cleared from the factory on payment of excise duty. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Mahashakti Coke, which challenged the denial of rebate on the differential quantity of metallurgical coke. The Court held: “The expression 'duty paid on such...

Revenue Deposits Made Under Protest Cannot Be Treated As “Duty” For Limiting Interest: CESTAT Allahabad

The Allahabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 25 June held that excess amounts deposited under protest during provisional assessment cannot be treated as “duty” and remain revenue deposits until a duty liability is adjudicated. Judicial Member P. K. Choudhary allowed an appeal filed by Maa Vindhyavasini Tobacco Pvt. Ltd, set aside the impugned order, and directed the Department to recalculate interest at 12% per annum from the respective dates of...

CESTAT Bangalore Grants Customs Duty Exemption To Gem Granites For Quarry Machinery Used To Produce Export Goods

The Bangalore bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has set aside an order denying customs and central excise duty exemptions to Gem Granites. It held that, in the facts of the case, imported capital goods used in quarry operations qualified for the exemption because the granite blocks extracted from the quarry were the basic raw material used to manufacture the export products. The bench of Judicial Member P.A. Augustian and Technical Member R. Bhagya Devi...

Industrial Promotion Subsidy Cannot Be Added To Excise Assessable Value: CESTAT Mumbai

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal has recently ruled that the Industrial Promotion Subsidy received by a taxpayer under the Maharashtra government's industrial incentive scheme cannot be added to the assessable value of goods for the purpose of levying Central Excise duty. A coram of Judicial Member Ajay Sharma and Technical Member M.M. Parthiban observed that the subsidy was a state incentive linked to eligible capital investment and regional industrial...

CESTAT Hyderabad Remands Excise Duty Dispute After Retrospective Relief

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Hyderabad, has remanded an excise duty dispute involving supplies made to Indian Railways for fresh adjudication after finding that a retrospective exemption introduced through the Finance Act, 2015 could affect the basis on which the demand was confirmed. A coram of Judicial Member Angad Prasad and Technical Member A.K. Jyotishi observed that the exemption covered the same period involved in the dispute. The tribunal therefore...

CESTAT Chennai Allows ICF Refund Claim, Holds Missing Batch Numbers Not Fatal Where Correlation Is Proven

On 18 June, the Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that refund of excess excise duty cannot be denied merely because invoices did not mention batch numbers, where the taxpayer establishes correlation through batch-costing records and contemporaneous documents. Judicial Member P. Dinesha and Technical Member M. Ajit Kumar allowed an appeal filed by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) against the Commissioner of Central Excise, holding that...

CESTAT Ahmedabad Bars Sugar Cess On Exported Sugar, Sets Aside ₹77.5 Lakh Demand

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 17 June held that authorities cannot levy sugar cess on sugar exported outside India, observing that statutory notifications expressly exempt exported sugar from such levy. Judicial Member Dr. Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha and Technical Member Satendra Vikram Singh allowed the appeal filed by Shree Chalthan Vibhag Khand Udyog Sahakari Mandli Ltd. and set aside the demand of Rs.77.50 lakh along with interest...

CESTAT Mumbai Orders Interest On Delayed Refund Of Extra Duty Deposit Collected During SVB Probe

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that Vardhman Acrylics Limited is entitled to interest on the delayed refund of Extra Duty Deposit (EDD) collected during a Special Valuation Branch (SVB) investigation. The tribunal ruled that interest became payable because the refund was not granted within the prescribed period after the amount became refundable. A bench of Judicial Member S.K. Mohanty and Technical Member M.M. Parthiban allowed...