Pre-deposit waived on parity where connected appeal already had unconditional stay and no fraud or suppression was found.

Penalty under rule 16 of the Cenvat Credit Rules was challenged on the basis that supplementary invoices were issued after a long gap and credit was availed on that basis. The Tribunal noted that, in the connected matter arising from the same impugned order, unconditional stay had already been granted and the earlier order had found no material indicating fraud, misdeclaration or suppression of facts for section 11AC purposes. Treating the present stay petition on the same footing as the connected appeal, the Tribunal dispensed with pre-deposit of the penalty amount and granted stay in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether pre-deposit of the penalty amount should be dispensed with in a stay petition arising from the same impugned order against which a co-noticee had already been granted unconditional stay.

Analysis: The penalty was imposed under rule 16 of the Cenvat Credit Rules on the allegation that supplementary invoices were issued after a long gap and credit was taken on that basis. The Tribunal noted that in the connected matter arising from the same order, unconditional stay had already been granted, and that the earlier order had observed absence of the ingredients necessary for section 11AC, namely fraud, misdeclaration, or suppression of facts. In these circumstances, the present matter was treated on the same footing as the connected appeal.

Conclusion: Pre-deposit was dispensed with and stay was granted in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The stay petition succeeded on parity with the connected appeal, resulting in suspension of the pre-deposit requirement and continuation of the appeals together.

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