Prospective application of Cenvat credit time limits preserves credit on pre-notification invoices.

A six-month time limit for availment of Cenvat credit introduced by Notification No. 21/2014-CE(NT) was held to operate prospectively. Invoices issued before the notification came into force were not subject to the new restriction, and the denial of credit on that basis was unsustainable. Relying on earlier Tribunal decisions, the settled view applied that the amended limitation could not be imposed retrospectively on pre-notification invoices. The result was that credit eligibility for such invoices was preserved and the adverse appellate reversal was set aside in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the time limit introduced by Notification No. 21/2014-CE(NT) dated 11.7.2014 for availment of Cenvat credit applied to invoices issued before the notification came into force.

Analysis: The notification introduced a six-month restriction on availment of Cenvat credit. The invoices in question had been issued prior to the notification date. The Tribunal had already held in earlier decisions that the restriction operates prospectively and cannot be applied to invoices issued before the notification. Following that settled view, the reversal of the original order by the Commissioner (Appeals) was not sustainable.

Conclusion: The restriction did not apply retrospectively to pre-notification invoices, and the denial of credit was set aside in favour of the assessee.

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