Cenvat credit on endorsed Bill of Entry upheld where imported inputs were received and used in manufacture.

Cenvat credit was examined in relation to imported inputs covered by a Bill of Entry initially issued in the importer's name and later endorsed to the manufacturer. The Tribunal treated actual receipt of the duty-paid goods in the claimant's factory and their use in manufacture as material facts, and held that credit could not be denied merely because the claimant's name did not appear on the original Bill of Entry. It accepted the view that the statutory scheme did not require refusal on that technical ground alone. Credit on the endorsed Bill of Entry was therefore admissible, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether Cenvat credit could be denied merely because the Bill of Entry was initially issued in the name of the importer and was later endorsed in favour of the manufacturer-respondent, when the imported inputs were received in the respondent's factory and used in manufacture.

Analysis: The credit was claimed on the basis of an endorsed Bill of Entry relating to imported inputs which were admittedly received in the respondent's factory and used in manufacture. The dispute turned on whether such endorsement could substitute for a Bill of Entry in the name of the claimant under the Cenvat Credit Rules. The Tribunal noted the conflicting views of the Larger Bench decision in Balmer Lawrie and the contrary High Court rulings. It accepted the reasoning that, where the duty-paid goods were actually received and used by the claimant and the statutory scheme did not expressly require denial solely for want of the claimant's name on the Bill of Entry, credit could not be refused on that technical ground.

Conclusion: Cenvat credit on the endorsed Bill of Entry was admissible to the respondent. The Revenue's appeal was not accepted.

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