Modvat credit on original invoice upheld where duplicate copy was lost; notification treated as clarificatory.

Modvat credit was treated as admissible on the original invoice where the duty-paid goods had been received in the factory and the duplicate transporter's copy had been lost. The Tribunal viewed Notification No. 23/94-C.E. (N.T.) as clarificatory, intended to address situations in which the duplicate copy was unavailable, particularly in the early period of the Modvat scheme. It distinguished the Madras High Court ruling relied on by the Revenue as involving a different notification and different facts, and found the other cited authority inapplicable. The operative result was recognition of credit on the original invoice in these circumstances.

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Issues: Whether Modvat credit was admissible on the strength of the original invoice when the duplicate transporter's copy had been lost, and whether Notification No. 23/94-C.E. (N.T.) was clarificatory so as to permit such credit.

Analysis: The receipt of the goods in the factory and their duty-paid character were not disputed. The Tribunal followed its earlier consistent view that, where the endorsed invoice was a duty-paying document and the new Modvat scheme had been introduced only shortly before the notification, Notification No. 23/94-C.E. (N.T.) was intended to take care of the situation where the duplicate copy was unavailable. The Tribunal distinguished the Madras High Court decision relied upon by the Revenue, holding that it dealt with a different notification on its own facts and did not lay down that all such notifications must necessarily be mandatory. The Tribunal also found the other cited decision inapplicable on the facts.

Conclusion: Modvat credit was admissible on the original invoice in the circumstances of the case, and Notification No. 23/94-C.E. (N.T.) was treated as clarificatory.

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