Modvat credit limitation runs from the date of taking credit, not from utilisation or return filing, under amended Rule 57-1.

For Modvat credit taken without filing the Rule 57G declaration, the amended Rule 57-1 was applied to limitation by treating the date of taking credit as the relevant date. The Tribunal rejected the departmental contention that limitation should run from the date of monthly RT-12 returns or from the date of utilisation of credit, and distinguished the Revenue's reliance on the unamended rule as inapplicable after amendment. On that basis, the demand was held time-barred and the orders setting aside the adjudication were upheld.

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Issues: Whether the demand for reversal of Modvat credit taken without filing the declaration under Rule 57G was barred by limitation, and whether the relevant date for computing limitation under amended Rule 57-1 was the date of taking credit or the date of utilisation or return filing.

Analysis: The Tribunal applied its earlier interpretation of the amended Rule 57-1, which treats the date of taking credit as the relevant date for limitation. It held that the departmental plea to compute limitation from the date of filing monthly RT-12 returns or from the date of utilisation of credit was not sustainable. The prior decision cited by the Revenue under the unamended rule was distinguished because the dispute in these appeals arose after the amendment that specifically governed recovery of wrongly availed or irregularly utilised credit.

Conclusion: The demand was time-barred, and the orders setting aside the adjudication were upheld. The Revenue's appeals were dismissed.

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