2019 (7) TMI 631

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..... 4,15,852/-, being the tax payable at 6% of the clearance value of Press Mud and that the Statement of Demand refers to various Show Cause Notices issued earlier, right from May 2008 to December 2016 (seven Show Cause Notices). 3. Today, when the matter was taken up for hearing, Shri. P.C. Anand, Ld. Consultant, appeared for the assessee and Shri. S. Govindarajan, Ld. AR, appeared for the Revenue. 4. Ld. Consultant contended that the only issue, of taxability of Press Mud in the hands of the assessee, is more or less settled in favour of the assessee as the same has been decided by the Chennai Bench of the CESTAT in respect of most of the Show Cause Notices referred to in the Statement of Demand and thus submitted that the issue is n....

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.... to 01.03.2015 and for this reason, the adjudicating authority has felt it proper and dropped the SOD up to 28.02.2015 (refer to paragraph 11.11 at page 17 of the Order-in-Original). 8.1 Now the question is, whether press mud, a waste, is a non-excisable commodity or not; and whether it is hit by the Explanations inserted with effect from 01.03.2015? Explanation 1 applies to exempted goods or final products including non-excisable goods cleared for a consideration. Rule 2(d) of the CENVAT Credit Rules (CCR), 2004 defines "exempted goods" to mean excisable goods which are exempt from the whole of the duty, to also include goods which are chargeable to nil rate of duty and the goods used impliedly suggest a final product. Rule 2(h) o....

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.... a by-product or waste, is placed under Sub-heading 2303 2000 though attracting nil rate of duty. The same is not the case with press mud, which is clearly not defined nor is it declared as a non-excisable good, but the same does not figure out in CETA because it is just a waste. The legislature is therefore clear in terming what is a non-excisable good/item or a waste and while clarifying, even the Board has omitted press mud while covering all other 'wastes' which are non-excisable goods. Therefore, "any such by-product" cannot take a different colour than Bagasse, Dross and Skimmings of non-ferrous metals, nothing more nothing less and that it should figure out as a 'non-excisable goods' per se. Therefore, I am of the view that press mud....