Capital goods credit for dumper tyres turns on in-factory use and unresolved location facts, requiring remand for verification.

Dumper tyres could qualify as capital goods under Rule 57Q only if the dumpers and crushers were used within the factory limits as defined by the Central Excise law. Their eligibility turned on the factual location of the crushers and the approved factory plan: if the crushers were inside the factory, the dumpers would be treated as used for in-factory transport of raw material, supporting credit; if outside, the claim would fail. The record did not conclusively establish the decisive facts, and the matter was remanded for fresh verification and reconsideration in accordance with law, with the earlier orders set aside.

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Issues: Whether dumper tyres were eligible as capital goods under Rule 57Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, depending on whether the dumpers and crushers were located within the factory limits, and whether the matter required remand for ascertainment of the relevant facts.

Analysis: The eligibility of the tyres depended on the factual position regarding the location of the crushers and the use of the dumpers with reference to the approved factory plan. If the crushers were within the factory as defined under Section 2(e) of the Central Excise Act, the dumpers would be treated as having been used within the factory for transporting raw material, and the tyres attached to them would qualify as capital goods under Rule 57Q. If the crushers were outside the factory limits, the benefit would not be available. The record did not conclusively establish these facts, and the authorities below had proceeded without resolving the disputed location issue. The Tribunal also clarified that, if credit had been allowed on the dumpers themselves during the material period, the tyres as accessories would be eligible, whereas absence of such allowance would make the claim unsustainable.

Conclusion: The matter was required to be remanded for fresh factual verification and reconsideration in accordance with law, with the assessee obtaining the benefit of remand and the earlier orders being set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Eligibility of equipment-related credit under Rule 57Q depends on factual use within the factory as defined by the Act, and where the decisive facts are unresolved, the proper course is remand for fresh adjudication.

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