2018 (9) TMI 744

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..... sue of liability of payment of Excise duty at the end of the coal companies was a debatable issue which is pending adjudication in the Apex Court. Appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.
Mr. V. Padmanabhan, Member (Technical) For the Appellant : Sh. Manish Saharan, Advocate For the Respondent : Sh. P. Juneja, DR ORDER PER: V. PADMANABHAN 1. The present appeal has been filed against the Order-in-Appeal No. 237/2017-18 dated 26/09/2017 2. The brief facts for purposes of the present appeals are that the appellants purchase coal from various subsidiary companies of M/s Coal India Ltd., like M/s South Eastern Coalfield. The Coal was being purchased as an input in the manufacturing activity and the excise duty paid on such coal w .....

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..... mitted that proceedings against the coal company has not attended finality and are subjudice before the Apex Court. The appeals filed by the coal company before the Tribunal has been disposed off with a direction to approach the Tribunal again after the outcome of the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Mining Area Development Authority V/s Steel Authority of India Ltd and others vide Civil Appeal No. 4056-5064/1999. Since the issue in the appeal filed by the Coal Companies is debatable, allegations of suppression cannot be attributed to them. ii. He also submitted that the present case in identical circumstances came up before the Tribunal in the case of Birla Corporation Ltd. V/s Commissioner and the Tribunal vide Final .....

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..... ssued for duties which became payable by the manufacturer on account of willful misstatement or suppression of facts on their part. 8. The appellant has cited the decision of the Tribunal in the case of Birla Corporation (supra). Upon perusal of the cited decision, I note that it has been passed in an identical set of facts involving the same coal company. In that case the Tribunal allowed the Cenvat Credit holding that there cannot be suppression of fact when the issue of liability of payment of Excise duty at the end of the coal companies was a debatable issue which is pending adjudication in the Apex Court. 9. The observations from the Tribunal in that case are reproduced below:- "7. Having considered the rival contentions of both th .....

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