Cenvat credit on supplementary invoices remains admissible when duty-paid inputs are received and used in manufacture despite a procedural objection.

Cenvat credit cannot be denied on supplementary invoices reflecting differential duty paid by a registered manufacturer where the inputs were received duty-paid and used in manufacture of final products. The Tribunal treated Rule 9(1)(b) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 as procedural and held that a technical objection about the form of the documents could not override the substantive entitlement to credit. Because the invoices evidenced actual duty payment and the core conditions for credit were satisfied, denial of credit on that ground was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether Cenvat credit could be denied on supplementary invoices issued for differential duty paid by the supplier, on the ground that Rule 9(1)(b) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 was not satisfied.

Analysis: The only substantive objection was that the supplementary invoices related to inputs transferred as such and, therefore, were said to fall outside Rule 9(1)(b). The Tribunal held that the supplier unit was a manufacturer and registered with Central Excise, and that the supplementary invoices reflected duty actually paid on the goods. Even assuming the documents were not covered in the exact manner suggested by the revenue, the invoices remained duty-paying documents and the substantive conditions for Cenvat credit were satisfied, namely receipt of duty-paid inputs in the factory and use in the manufacture of final products. The Tribunal treated Rule 9(1)(b) as procedural and held that such a provision could not defeat credit otherwise admissible on the merits.

Conclusion: Cenvat credit on the supplementary invoices was admissible and the denial of credit was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the substantive conditions for Cenvat credit are met, credit cannot be denied merely because the differential duty is evidenced by supplementary invoices and the objection is only procedural under Rule 9(1)(b) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004.

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