Transitional Modvat credit claims must meet the rule position in force on the later filing date, with timely stock verification required.

A later declaration for transitional Modvat credit was treated as a fresh claim, not a continuation of an earlier declaration already adjudicated and allowed. Admissibility therefore fell to be examined under Rule 57H as amended and in force on the date of the later filing, with supporting duty documents also subject to Rule 57G(5). A claim made about four years after the relevant stock date was not accepted, because transitional credit requires timely verification of the stock position and cannot be granted where delay prevents effective scrutiny. The subsequent claim for credit was accordingly inadmissible.

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Issues: Whether Modvat credit could be claimed in 1998, by way of a subsequent declaration, in respect of saleable soft and hard waste lying in stock as on 1-3-1994, and whether such claim was governed by the provisions of Rule 57H as they stood on the date of the later declaration.

Analysis: The earlier declaration dated 5-5-1994 had already been adjudicated and allowed, and the later declaration filed on 27-3-1998 was not a continuation of that earlier claim. The relevant date for examining admissibility was therefore the date of the later declaration. On that footing, the claim had to satisfy the amended transitional-credit conditions in Rule 57H as in force from 1-3-1997, and the supporting duty documents also attracted the limitation in Rule 57G(5). The Court further held that a claim raised after about four years, for a stock position long past, could not be accepted as a matter of course for transitional credit, since the authorities must be able to verify the stock position on the relevant date within a reasonable time.

Conclusion: The subsequent claim for transitional Modvat credit was not admissible, and the Revenue's challenge succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A later declaration for transitional Modvat credit, filed after the earlier declaration has already been adjudicated, is a fresh claim governed by the rule position then in force, and such credit cannot be allowed after an inordinate and unexplained delay that frustrates verification of the relevant stock position.

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