Limited remand and verified invoices barred a fresh basis for denying Cenvat credit.

Cenvat credit could not be denied on the original ground once the 52 invoices were produced on record and verified after remand. The remand had been limited to examining those invoices, so the adjudicating authority in de novo proceedings was bound to confine itself to that issue and could not expand the inquiry into percentage consumption of CRCA strips or collateral material from another unit. As the invoices were available and examined, there was no basis to sustain denial of credit on the stated ground, and the impugned order was set aside.

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Issues: Whether Cenvat credit could be denied for the 52 invoices when the invoices were produced on record and the adjudicating authority, after remand, travelled beyond the limited scope of the remand while reconsidering the demand.

Analysis: The dispute in the show cause notice and in the earlier remand order was confined to denial of credit on the ground that the assessee had not produced the 52 invoices. The Tribunal had remanded the matter specifically to examine those invoices, and they were in fact produced and verified. In de novo proceedings, the adjudicating authority was therefore bound to decide only that issue and could not enlarge the controversy by undertaking a fresh exercise on percentage consumption of CRCA strips or by relying on collateral inquiries from another unit. Once the invoices stood produced on record, there was no basis to deny the credit on the original ground.

Conclusion: The denial of Cenvat credit was unsustainable and the impugned order was set aside, with the appeals allowed in favour of the assessee.

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