Cenvat credit pre-deposit relief limited to bills in director's name while balance waiver was allowed for appeal hearing

Prima facie Cenvat credit on hotel conference services and telephone services was treated as sufficiently connected with the assessee's output service to justify waiver of full pre-deposit at the appeal stage. The fact that hotel charges related to conference halls and related facilities did not, by itself, warrant denial of waiver, and later supply of missing invoice particulars also did not require full deposit for admission. However, credit linked to bills in the Director's name raised a reasonable doubt of personal use, so pre-deposit was confined to that extent. The balance demand was waived for hearing of the appeal.

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Issues: Whether waiver of pre-deposit should be granted in full, subject to a small deposit, in an appeal challenging denial of cenvat credit on hotel conference services, telephone services and invoices with incomplete particulars.

Analysis: The disputed credit related mainly to hotel premises used for training conferences, telephone services and certain invoices where details were said to be incomplete. The services were prima facie connected with the assessee's output service, and the objection that the hotel charges were for conference halls and related facilities did not justify full denial at the pre-deposit stage. For telephone services, the missing particulars were stated to have been supplied later, and this did not warrant insisting on full deposit for admission of the appeal. However, credit of Rs. 8,722 pertaining to bills in the name of the Director gave rise to a reasonable doubt of personal use, and pre-deposit was considered appropriate to that extent.

Conclusion: Full waiver was not granted, but pre-deposit was restricted to Rs. 8,722 and waiver of the balance demand was allowed for hearing of the appeal.

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