Capital goods credit on plastic crates rejected where the Cenvat Rules treated the list as exhaustive.

Plastic crates under SH 3923.90 were not eligible for Cenvat credit as capital goods because Rule 2(b) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2001/2002 contained an exhaustive list and the crates did not fall within any specified entry as components, spares or accessories. An earlier ruling under Rule 57Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 was inapplicable because the Cenvat capital goods scheme was materially different. The alternative claim to input duty credit also failed, as "input" could not be expanded to cover goods ordinarily treated as capital goods, particularly material handling equipment, and the point was not raised before the lower authority. The credit allowed below was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether plastic crates falling under SH 3923.90 were eligible for capital goods credit or, alternatively, input duty credit under the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2001/2002.

Analysis: Rule 2(b) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2001/2002 prescribed an exhaustive list of capital goods, and plastic crates were not covered by any specified entry. They were neither components, spares, nor accessories of the listed goods, and the earlier decision under Rule 57Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 was held inapplicable because the capital goods scheme under the Cenvat Rules was materially different. The alternative plea of input credit also failed, because the expression "input" could not be stretched to cover goods conventionally understood as capital goods, particularly material handling equipment, and the cited Sales Tax decision did not support such treatment. The alternative claim was also not raised before the lower authority.

Conclusion: Plastic crates were not eligible for capital goods credit or input duty credit, and the credit allowed by the lower appellate authority was unsustainable.

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