Cenvat credit on outdoor catering hinges on employee recovery records and fresh factual verification before limitation can be decided.

Cenvat credit on outdoor catering service depended on the actual incidence of canteen cost and the extent to which charges were recovered from employees through salary deductions. Because the factual record on employee recovery and its nexus with the credit availed was incomplete, the matter required fresh verification and a reasoned adjudication. The objection to invocation of the extended period also could not be finally decided without examining the same factual material and the appellant's submissions under the applicable law. The matter was therefore remitted for reconsideration after production of records and fresh findings on credit admissibility and limitation.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether Cenvat credit on outdoor catering service was admissible where the cost of canteen facilities was recovered from employees; (ii) Whether invocation of the extended period was sustainable on the facts.

Issue (i): Admissibility of credit depended on the actual incidence of the catering expense and whether the demand related to the portion recovered from workers through salary deductions. The existing findings indicated that the caterer was engaged from outside and that deductions towards canteen charges were reflected in salary slips, but the exact extent of recovery and its nexus with the credit availed required verification.

Conclusion: The issue was remanded to the adjudicating authority for factual verification and a fresh speaking order.

Issue (ii): The plea against invocation of the extended period could not be finally decided without first examining the relevant facts, the employee-recovery documents, and the appellant's submissions in the light of the applicable law.

Conclusion: The issue was left open for reconsideration by the adjudicating authority on remand.

Final Conclusion: The matter was sent back for fresh adjudication after opportunity to the appellant to produce records and after consideration of the admissibility of credit and the limitation plea.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the factual basis for credit demand is incomplete, especially on the extent of employee recovery and the relevance of the disputed service, the matter should be remanded for fresh verification and reasoned adjudication, including the limitation objection.

---