Appellant granted chance to prove CENVAT Credit claim, emphasizing benefit under Central Excise law

The appeal was allowed by the Member (Judicial) through remand, granting the appellant an opportunity to substantiate the CENVAT Credit claim with the necessary documentation before the adjudicating authority for a fresh decision. The Member emphasized that the appellant should not be deprived of the credit benefit under the Central Excise statute, as there was no dispute regarding the nature of input services received, despite procedural deficiencies in the documents. The adjudicating authority was directed to re-examine the certificate provided by the appellant and issue a new order within three months.

---

---

Issues:
- Disallowance of CENVAT Credit on input services due to deficiencies in documents.
- Entitlement of the appellant to avail credit based on the document's validity.

Analysis:
1. The appeal was filed against the Order-in-Appeal upholding the demand of central excise duty along with interest and penalty for the period 2013-14, due to disallowance of CENVAT Credit of input services by the Asst. Commissioner, Central Excise, Howrah.

2. The appellant, engaged in manufacturing excisable goods, availed credit on input services lacking necessary details like the appellant's address and service tax registration number of service providers, leading to disallowance of credit by authorities. However, the appellant provided a certificate from the Bank showing service tax payment, which included the service tax registration number of the Bank branch.

3. During the proceedings, it was argued that the receipt of services and tax payment were not in dispute, and credit denial was due to procedural deficiencies. The dispute revolved around the acceptance of the document supporting the credit availed, with no contention that services were not received or taxes not paid.

4. The Member (Judicial) found that since there was no dispute regarding the nature of input services, the appellant should not be deprived of CENVAT Credit, a beneficial scheme under the Central Excise statute. The Member ordered the appellant to produce the certificate before the adjudicating authority for necessary examination and computation, directing the authority to pass a de-novo order within three months.

5. Ultimately, the appeal was allowed by way of remand, providing the appellant with an opportunity to substantiate the credit claim with the required documentation before the adjudicating authority for a fresh decision.

---