Modvat credit on molybdenum wire upheld as eligible input, with later co-ordinate bench rulings prevailing over earlier contrary authority.

Molybdenum wire was treated as an eligible input for Modvat credit under Rule 57A because later co-ordinate bench decisions had already held that it is neither a tool nor an appliance. The reasoning in Jai Electric Limited, Kalpana Lamp and Components Limited, and ECE Industries was followed over the earlier contrary view in Apar Limited, since the present facts were identical and the later Tribunal view prevailed on the same product classification issue. On that basis, Modvat credit was held admissible and the appeals were rejected.

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Issues: Whether Modvat credit on molybdenum wire was admissible under Rule 57A and whether the assessee's claim was governed by earlier contrary authority or by later Tribunal decisions.

Analysis: The earlier decision in Apar Limited was of an earlier period, while the later Tribunal decisions in Jai Electric Limited, Kalpana Lamp and Components Limited, and ECE Industries considered the same product and held that molybdenum wire was neither a tool nor an appliance but an input eligible for Modvat credit. The reasoning of the later decisions was followed on the basis that a subsequent co-ordinate bench view prevails over an earlier contrary view, and the facts of the present case were found to be identical to those cases.

Conclusion: Modvat credit on molybdenum wire was admissible, and the appeals were rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where later co-ordinate bench decisions have conclusively held a material to be an eligible input and not a tool or appliance, that later view prevails over an earlier contrary decision for identical facts under Rule 57A.

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