CENVAT credit on Bill of Entry copies: tribunal declined full predeposit waiver and required partial deposit pending appeal.

CENVAT credit claimed on a consolidated original Bill of Entry and a photocopy of the Bill of Entry was examined for prima facie eligibility at the predeposit stage. The Tribunal noted that credit based on the consolidated original Bill of Entry was covered by an earlier decision cited by the applicant, but accepted the Revenue's objection that a photocopy was not enough where the original was allegedly lost and no supporting affidavit or FIR was produced. As a complete waiver was not justified, full predeposit relief was refused and only partial waiver was granted pending appeal.

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Issues: Whether the applicant was entitled to waiver of the entire predeposit in respect of CENVAT credit claimed on the basis of a photocopy of the Bill of Entry and a consolidated original Bill of Entry.

Analysis: The denial of credit based on the consolidated original Bill of Entry was found to be prima facie covered by the earlier decision relied upon by the applicant. At the same time, the Tribunal accepted the Revenue's objection that another decision had held that credit was not eligible on the basis of a photocopy of the Bill of Entry, particularly where the original document was stated to be lost but no supporting affidavit or FIR had been produced. Since the adjudicating authority had already allowed credit on the original Bill of Entry and the applicant failed to establish a prima facie case for complete waiver, partial safeguard of the Revenue's interest was warranted.

Conclusion: The request for complete waiver was rejected and the applicant was directed to deposit Rs. 30,000 within six weeks, with waiver of the balance predeposit during pendency of the appeal.

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