Prospective Modvat credit restriction cannot defeat accrued credit taken before the amended time-limit became operative.

Notification No. 28/95, which restricted the period for availing Modvat credit to six months from the date of duty-paid documents, was treated as prospective because it curtailed an accrued benefit and contained no clear retrospective language. The amended proviso could not be used to deny credit already taken before the restriction became operative, so the disputed Modvat credit was not barred on limitation grounds.

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Issues: Whether Notification No. 28/95 dated 29-6-95, which restricted the period for availing Modvat credit to six months from the date of the duty-paid documents, applied retrospectively to credits already accrued before the amendment.

Analysis: The amendment curtailed the time-limit for availing credit and therefore operated to deprive the assessee of an accrued benefit. Such a restriction, in the absence of clear retrospective language, was treated as prospective in effect. The credit in dispute had been taken before the amended restriction became operative, so the amended proviso could not be invoked to deny it.

Conclusion: The restriction introduced by the notification was held to be prospective and not applicable to the disputed credit; the assessee's credit was not to be denied on limitation grounds.

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