2009 (3) TMI 743 - AT - Central Excise

Cenvat/Modvat - Documents for availing credit - Held that - bill of entry is in the name of the appellant and that there is no dispute about the receipt or utilization of the input substantive requirement of law has been fulfilled - Further it cannot be said that bill of entry the document which has been prescribed cannot be certified by the Customs officer in case the importer s copy is lost for any reason. In fact Revenue should have verified the fact whether the inputs have been received or not to ensure that there is no misuse of bill of entry and Cenvat credit. In the absence of any such investigation or verification the appellant is eligible for the credit - appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.

Summary

The judgement from the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, Ahmedabad, involves an appeal against the denial of Cenvat credit amounting to Rs. 70,559 based on a certified copy of a bill of entry. The Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the original adjudicating authority's decision that a certified copy of the bill of entry is not a valid document for availing credit. The appellant argued that the bill of entry was lost and a certificate from Customs was obtained to prove its authenticity. The advocate cited Rule 9 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, which includes a bill of entry as a prescribed document. The Tribunal found the case similar to a previous case where certified copies of lost invoices were accepted, and since there was no dispute about the receipt or utilization of the input, the appellant fulfilled the substantive requirement of the law. The Tribunal also noted that the Customs officer's certification of the bill of entry should not disqualify the appellant from claiming credit. The appeal was allowed in favor of the appellant. The judgement was pronounced in court by Shri B.S.V. Murthy, JJ.