Cenvat credit on supplementary invoices and 57E certificates was treated as admissible for the disputed period.

Cenvat credit was examined for supplementary invoices and 57E certificates used during 1.4.2000 to 29.8.2000, before Notification No. 51/2000-CE(NT) expressly listed those documents. The Tribunal treated the omission in the earlier prescribed-document list as a drafting omission and held the later notification to be clarificatory, not a new substantive entitlement. Applying the beneficial nature of the Cenvat credit scheme and the earlier view that credit had already been available on such documents, it accepted supplementary invoices as valid supporting documents for the relevant period and found denial of credit unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether Cenvat credit was admissible on supplementary invoices and 57E certificates for the period 1.4.2000 to 29.8.2000, before Notification No. 51/2000-CE(NT) dated 29.8.2000 expressly included such documents.

Analysis: The dispute turned on whether the omission of supplementary invoices and 57E certificates from the prescribed documents was merely a drafting omission. The Tribunal held that prior to 1.4.2000 credit was available on supplementary invoices and 57E certificates, and that Notification No. 51/2000-CE(NT) was clarificatory in nature. It relied on the settled principle that Cenvat credit is a beneficial scheme and that the later notification rectified the earlier omission rather than creating a new entitlement. Following the earlier decision on the same notification, the Tribunal accepted supplementary invoices as valid documents for the relevant period.

Conclusion: Cenvat credit was admissible on the supplementary invoices and 57E certificates for the disputed period, and the denial of credit was unsustainable.

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