Cenvat credit on MS plates used in tank fabrication was upheld where expert evidence remained unrebutted.

Cenvat credit on MS plates used in fabrication of tanks was treated as admissible under the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004. The document notes that the earlier view in Vandana Global could not be sustained after the later High Court ruling following Rajasthan Spinning & Weaving Mills, and that credit could not be denied on that basis. It also states that a Chartered Engineer's certificate on material consumption had to be accepted where no contrary expert evidence was produced and the show cause notice did not raise a separate challenge. The operative result recorded is that the denial was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether Cenvat credit was admissible on MS plates used for fabrication of tanks, and whether the Chartered Engineer's certificate regarding consumption of the materials had to be accepted.

Analysis: The MS plates were used in fabrication of tanks, and the dispute turned on their eligibility for credit under the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004. The denial based on the earlier view in Vandana Global could not be sustained in light of the later High Court ruling following Rajasthan Spinning & Weaving Mills, which held that such credit cannot be denied on the same footing. The lower authorities rejected the Chartered Engineer's certificate without producing any contrary expert opinion or raising a separate case in the show cause notice. In the absence of rebuttal evidence, the expert certificate regarding consumption of MS plates was required to be accepted.

Conclusion: Cenvat credit on the MS plates was admissible and the denial was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The impugned orders were set aside and the appeals were allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where capital goods-related inputs are shown by uncontroverted expert evidence to have been used in fabrication of plant or tanks, credit cannot be denied merely by relying on a contrary administrative view without rebuttal evidence.

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