Transitional Modvat credit rules accepted depot invoices during the registration relaxation period if prescribed documents were in order.

The prescribed invoice was recognised as a valid Modvat document, including invoices issued by a manufacturer from its depot. Transitional notifications and Board clarifications required registration for dealers and specified persons, but invoices issued during the relaxation period could still be accepted up to 31-12-1994 if the prescribed documentation was otherwise in order. The scheme operated as a temporary dispensation to regularise credit during the registration transition, and depot invoices issued within that period remained eligible for Modvat credit.

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Issues: Whether Modvat credit could be allowed on invoices issued from the manufacturer's depot by persons who were not yet registered, where the invoices were issued during the transitional period and were taken before the cut-off date.

Analysis: The invoice prescribed under Notification No. 15/94-C.E. (N.T.) was recognised as a valid document for Modvat purposes, including invoices issued by a manufacturer from his depot. Notification Nos. 32/94 and 64/94, read with the Board's clarifications, showed that dealers and specified persons were required to register, but that invoices issued during the relaxation period could still be accepted up to 31-12-1994, subject to the scheme of registration and the relevant instructions. The surrounding notifications and trade notice reflected a transitional dispensation intended to regularise credit where the prescribed documents were otherwise in order.

Conclusion: The invoice from the manufacturer's depot was a valid document for Modvat credit within the relaxed transitional regime, and the order allowing credit was sustainable.

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