Modvat credit requires original duty-paying documents; photocopies are insufficient under the amended rule.

The amended Rule 57G(4), effective from 1-2-1990, required original duty-paying documents to be filed with the return for Modvat credit, so credit could not be taken on a photocopy even if the original gate pass was said to be lost. The earlier precedent relied on by the assessee was inapplicable because it arose under the pre-amendment rule, when the requirement of originals was absent. The article therefore states that the statutory condition of originals governed the claim and the photocopy-based credit was not admissible under the amended regime.

---

---

Issues: Whether Modvat credit could be availed on the strength of a photocopy of the duty-paying document when the amended Rule 57G(4) required original documents, and whether a precedent decided under the pre-amendment rule could govern the claim.

Analysis: The amended Rule 57G(4), operative from 1-2-1990, required submission of the original documents evidencing payment of duty along with the return. The credit in question was taken only on a photocopy of the gate pass because the original was said to have been lost. Since the statutory requirement of originals was not satisfied, the assessee was not entitled to Modvat credit. The precedent relied upon by the assessee related to the period prior to the amendment, when the rule did not contain the word "original", and therefore did not apply to the later regime.

Conclusion: Modvat credit on the photocopy was not admissible, and the reliance on the earlier decision was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The disallowance of Modvat credit was sustained and the appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the applicable rule specifically requires original duty-paying documents, credit cannot be allowed on a photocopy, and a precedent under an earlier unamended rule cannot override the amended statutory requirement.

---