2013 (3) TMI 526 - AT - Central Excise

Appeal is made for rectification of Tribunal s Order. - Revenue in the application has submitted that the Tribunal had decided the issue on Rule 6(1) and 6(2) and had not taken into consideration the Rule 6(3)(a)(vi) of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2002. - Revenue filed appeal against the order of the Tribunal before Bombay High Court as the Tribunal finds it time barred. The Revenue contends that application filed by revenue on is within the time limit as High Court has given them liberty to move to Tribunal for appropriate relief. Held that - Tribunal cannot decide the incorrect application of law while deciding the issue in application. Therefore, the request of Revenue for considering the issue on Rule 6(3)(a)(vi) of Cenvat Credit Rules cannot be considered in the ROM application.

Summary

Issues:
Rectification of mistake in CESTAT's Order; Time limitation for filing rectification application; Consideration of Rule 6(3)(a)(vi) of Cenvat Credit Rules in rectification application.

Analysis:
The Revenue filed an application for rectification of mistake in CESTAT's Order dated 17.11.2005, after a previous rectification application was rejected as time-barred by the Tribunal. The Revenue contended that they had filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court, which was allowed to be withdrawn with liberty to move the Tribunal for appropriate reliefs. The High Court order dated 8.12.2010 granted this liberty, leading to the recall of the Tribunal's order rejecting the earlier rectification application as time-barred.

Upon review, it was found that the Revenue had raised the issue of Rule 6(3)(a)(vi) of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2002 in the rectification application. However, referencing the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Commissioner of Central Excise, Belapur vs. RDS Concrete (India) P. Ltd., the Tribunal noted that rectification of mistake should be limited to obvious and patent errors, not debatable points or incorrect applications of law. Consequently, the Tribunal ruled that the request to consider the issue on Rule 6(3)(a)(vi) of Cenvat Credit Rules could not be entertained in the rectification application.

In light of the above analysis, the Tribunal rejected the Revenue's rectification of mistake (ROM) application, emphasizing the limitations on rectification powers when it comes to correcting errors in legal interpretation or debatable points of law.