Rule 6 liability does not apply to bagasse and press mud treated as non-excisable waste or residue.

Waste or residue arising during manufacture, such as bagasse and press mud, does not attract Rule 6 liability under the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 merely because of the 01.03.2015 amendment to Rule 6(1). The amendment did not change the legal character of such non-excisable by-products into manufactured products, and earlier precedent continued to apply. As a result, the obligation to pay an amount in relation to these materials was not fastened on the assessee, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether, after the 01.03.2015 amendment to Rule 6(1) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004, the assessee was required to pay an amount in relation to bagasse and press mud emerging during manufacture of sugar and molasses.

Analysis: Bagasse and press mud were treated as agricultural waste or residue and not as manufactured products. The earlier precedent in the assessee's own case, as well as other connected decisions, had already held that the amendment to Rule 6 did not alter the legal position so as to fasten liability on such non-excisable by-products. The Revenue's objection based on the post-01.03.2015 explanation was therefore not accepted.

Conclusion: The liability under Rule 6 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 was not attracted to bagasse and press mud, and the Revenue's appeals failed.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order of the Commissioner (Appeals) was sustained and the Revenue's appeals were dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Waste or residue arising from manufacture, which is not itself a manufactured product, does not attract the Rule 6 obligation merely because of the amended explanation where the underlying legal character of the goods remains non-excisable.

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