Countervailing duty exemption for imported silk goods extends with excise exemption and CENVAT credit conditions applied consistently.

Imported silk yarn and silk fabrics were treated as eligible for exemption from countervailing duty under Notification No. 30/2004-CE because the notification's excise exemption for like indigenous goods extended to imports where applicable. The Tribunal followed its earlier rulings and later Supreme Court authority holding that, for countervailing duty under Section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, an importer is to be placed on the same footing as a manufacturer. It also held that the non-availment of CENVAT credit condition could not be used to deny the exemption on imported goods, and contrary Revenue reliance did not override the binding precedent.

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Issues: Whether imported silk yarn and silk fabrics were entitled to exemption from countervailing duty under Notification No. 30/2004-CE dated 09.07.2004, and whether the condition relating to non-availment of CENVAT credit could be applied to imports.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that the issue stood covered by its earlier decisions, which had already examined the scope of Notification No. 30/2004-CE and the effect of the condition excluding goods on which credit of duty on inputs or capital goods had been taken. It also relied on the later Supreme Court decisions which affirmed that, for the purpose of countervailing duty under Section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, an importer is to be placed on the same footing as a manufacturer, and that exemption from excise duty available to like indigenous goods extends to imported goods where the notification so operates. The Tribunal further held that the Revenue's reliance on contrary decisions did not displace the binding effect of the later Supreme Court rulings and the earlier Tribunal precedent.

Conclusion: The imported goods were eligible for exemption from countervailing duty under Notification No. 30/2004-CE, and the Revenue's appeals were liable to be rejected.

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