2017 (9) TMI 266

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....riod under consideration, the appellant was engaged in the manufacturing of motor vehicles by building body on chassis of motor vehicle falling under Chapter 8706 of the First Schedule of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. The appellant received duty paid chassis from different customers and built body on the said chassis. The appellant never took credit of the duty that stands paid on the chassis. Remaining inputs essential to carry out the process of body building are procured independently by the appellants on payment of duty. The appellant have taken the credit for remaining input items. Final product cleared by the appellant is a built motor vehicles having body and chassis and not body alone. The said final product cannot be classif....

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....of this Chapter, building a body or fabrication or mounting or fitting of structures or equipment on the chassis falling under heading 8706 shall amount to "manufacture" of a motor vehicle. 7. Admittedly, the appellants were building bodies on the chassis classified under Heading 8706. Such activity is deemed to be manufacture of a motor vehicle in terms of the above chapter note. A plain reading of the chapter note alongwith the relevant tariff headings makes it clear that the product cleared by the appellant after body building activity is a "manufactured" motor vehicle. Considering the nature of motor vehicle, which is for transport of goods, the same has to be classified under Heading 8704. 8. The Original Authority relied on vari....

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....ion of Goa Ltd. Vs. CCE, Goa reported in 2013 (31) S.T.R. 496 (Tri. - Mumbai) held that the independent body builders are manufacturers of body on their own account and, hence, are to be considered as manufacturers of motor vehicle. Similar view has been recorded by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in CCE, T.N. Vs. Vinayaga Body Building Industries Ltd. reported in 2008 (224) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.). 9. On the second issue regarding availment of credit on inputs used by the appellants we note that they have reversed credit attributable to inputs used in manufacture of exempted goods. 7 EX/51052 & 53142 of 2014 Apart from the legal issue raised by the appellant that this point was not a subject matter of show cause notice, we note that it is a settled p....