EXCISE
Sale Or Service Taxability Disputes Can Only Be Challenged Before Supreme Court: Telangana High Court
The Telangana High Court has held that disputes involving whether a transaction constitutes a “sale of goods” or a “service” raise questions of taxability and are not maintainable under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, as such issues lie within the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Section 35L. A Division Bench of Justices P. Sam Koshy and Narsing Rao Nandikonda dismissed the appeal filed by the Commissioner of Central Tax & Customs against Zoom Technologies (India)...
Immovability Of Plant Does Not Bar CENVAT Credit On Duty-Paid Machinery: CESTAT Hyderabad
The Hyderabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 12 June held that manufacturers can avail CENVAT credit on duty-paid machinery, components and equipment used to set up an integrated plant even if the completed plant becomes immovable property. Technical Member A.K. Jyotishi and Judicial Member Angad Prasad allowed ITC Ltd.'s appeal, observing that ownership of the goods and their attachment to earth do not determine eligibility for credit and set...
ONGC Rebutted Unjust Enrichment Presumption, Entitled To ₹4.42 Crore OID Cess Refund: CESTAT Chennai
The Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has recently, in a case involcing ONGC held that the statutory presumption that duty incidence has been passed on stands rebutted where contractual documents, invoices, and independent certifications establish that the burden of duty was not passed on to the buyer. The ruling came while allowing Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.'s (ONGC) refund claim of ₹4.42 crore towards excess Oil Industry Development...
CESTAT New Delhi Holds CENVAT Credit Does Not Lapse If Other Dutiable Final Products Continue
On 18 May, the New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that CENVAT credit lying in balance does not lapse merely because some final products become exempt from excise duty, as long as other final products manufactured from the same inputs continue to attract duty. President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar dismissed three Departmental appeals and upheld the order dropping demands exceeding Rs.22.88 crore against Sharp...
Rule 16 Does Not Require Return Of Remade Goods To Original Buyer To Avail CENVAT Credit: CESTAT Mumbai
The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 3 June held that CENVAT credit on duty-paid goods returned to a factory cannot be denied merely because the re-manufactured machine was supplied to a different customer and not to the buyer who had originally returned the goods. A Single Member Bench comprising Judicial Member Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pati allowed the appeal filed by Grafica Flextronica and set aside a demand of Rs. 23.40 lakh along with interest...
CESTAT New Delhi Allows CENVAT Credit On Ore Crushing Services Used In Manufacturing Process
The Principal Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi on 5 June 2026 held that services used for crushing mined iron ore and removing unwanted material before the ore reaches the factory qualify as “input services” for CENVAT credit, as they directly connect with the manufacturing process. President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P. V. Subba Rao allowed the appeal filed by Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd. and set aside the demand, interest,...
Supreme Court Holds Appeals On Excisability Of Goods Lie Before It, Not High Courts
The Supreme Court has recently held that disputes over whether goods are excisable fall within the exclusive appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and cannot be decided by High Courts.Setting aside a Karnataka High Court judgment, the Court observed, "The provisions of Sections 35G and Section 35L, read together, always pointed to one and only one conclusion: that the question of excisability fell within the exclusive appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court." A Bench of Justice J.B....
New Delhi CESTAT Bars Reclassification Of Product To Zarda After Years Of Acceptance As Chewing Tobacco
The New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 2 June held that the Department cannot reclassify a product after consistently accepting its classification for several years through departmental orders, and consequently set aside an excise duty demand arising from such reclassification. President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member Hemambika R. Priya allowed appeals filed by Rajasthan-based manufacturer Rajan Jhiriwal and its partners, and set...
CESTAT New Delhi Rejects CENVAT Credit Denial For Invoice Defects, Allows Jayaswal NECO Appeal
On 2 June, the New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that authorities cannot deny CENVAT credit merely on the basis of procedural defects in invoices when the recipient has actually received and used the services in its business operations. President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member Hemambika R. Priya allowed the appeal filed by Jayaswal NECO Industries Ltd. and set aside the denial of CENVAT credit of Rs. 53.94 lakh. The Tribunal also...
CESTAT Delhi Sets Aside Order Treating Post-August 1995 Paper Products Transfers As Inter-State Sales
The Principal Bench of the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, has held that paper products transferred by Shree Karthik Papers Ltd. to agents in Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, and West Bengal after August 1, 1995 were consignment sales and not inter-State sales. The tribunal set aside a Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal order that had restored assessment on a turnover of ₹1.51 crore by treating the transactions as inter-State sales. A bench of President...
CESTAT Delhi Sets Aside ₹22.59 Lakh CENVAT Credit Demand Against Honda Motorcycle Over Manufacturing Waste, Scrap
The tribunal held that waste and scrap arising during manufacture are neither manufactured goods nor by-products, and therefore do not attract proportionate reversal of CENVAT credit under Rule 6(1)
CESTAT Chandigarh Holds 'Input Service' Has Wide Scope Under Cenvat Rules, Allows Hero MotoCorp Appeals
The Chandigarh Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 26 May held that the definition of “input service” under Rule 2(l) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 has a wide ambit and includes services having even an indirect nexus with manufacturing or business activities. Judicial Member S.S. Garg and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar allowed a batch of appeals filed by Hero MotoCorp Ltd (formerly Hero Honda Motors Ltd) and set aside the demand raised by the...