Modvat credit time limit under amended Rule 57G barred delayed credit claims; Section 38A gave no relief.

Modvat credit under amended Rule 57G could not be taken after the six-month period from the date of the relevant invoices, even where the inputs were received before the amendment, because the time limit operated as a procedural restriction on taking credit rather than an extinguishment of the underlying entitlement. The Tribunal applied the binding ruling that this use of the amended rule was not impermissibly retrospective. Section 38A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 did not assist the claimant, as the credit request was governed by the amended timing requirement applicable to the act of taking credit, and the credit was therefore inadmissible.

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Issues: Whether Modvat credit could be taken beyond six months from the date of the relevant invoices in respect of inputs received before the amendment to Rule 57G, and whether Section 38A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 could be invoked to grant the credit.

Analysis: The inputs were received before the amendment to Rule 57G, but the credit was taken after the six-month period introduced by the amended rule. The Tribunal followed the binding ruling that the amendment imposed a procedural restriction on the taking of credit, not an extinguishment of the substantive entitlement, and that its application to credits taken after the stipulated period did not amount to impermissible retrospective operation. In that view, the subsequent insertion of Section 38A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 did not assist the appellant, because the credit claim was governed by the amended rule as applied to the act of taking credit beyond the prescribed time.

Conclusion: The credit taken beyond six months was not admissible, and the plea based on Section 38A was rejected.

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