TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (11) TMI 663
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.... and Service Tax, Patna. 2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the Appellant is a composite sugar factory engaged, inter alia, in the manufacture and clearance of dutiable excisable goods (i.e. sugar, molasses and industrial spirits) operating under the Cenvat Scheme. In the course of manufacturing sugar from sugarcane, Bagasse emerges as an agricultural waste. Since the combustion of Bagasse (which is a carbon neutral fuel) is capable of generating electricity, the Appellant company had also set up a Cogeneration Power Plant within the factory premises. The electricity so generated from Bagasse as a fuel is captively used by the Appellant in its factory premises and the surplus power is wheeled out to the Bihar State Electri....
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....¢ CCE & ST Vs. M/s Palriwal Hydrocarbons & Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. - 2019 (4) TMI 1335; • Satavahana Ispat Limited Vs. CCT, Tirupati GST - 2019 (3) TMI 100 B. The Learned Commissioner has sought to distinguish the binding judicial precedents at para A above, on superfluous grounds. The findings of the Learned Commissioner in this regard and the counter contentions of the Appellant are captured in the table below: Commissioner's Findings Contentions of the Appellant (1) Observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Solaris Chemtech that electricity is nonexcisable is an obiter (para 4.2 and 4.4 of the 'OIO'). (1) Not an obiter. Further even an obiter of the Hon'ble Supreme Court has considerable weight and is bi....
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....lhi High Court in Nangalamal Sugar Complex reported in 2020 (371) ELT 501(refer para 26 and 64 of the said decision). C. Even after the insertion of the explanation 1 to Rule 6(1) of the 'CCR' with effect from 1st March 2015, the provision of Rule 6(3)(i) does not get attracted as the main input i.e. Bagasse remains non-excisable and the Appellant had refrained from availing any Cenvat credit on the other indirect inputs by maintaining separate records as evident from the Certificate dated 22 February 2017 from the Chartered Accountant. There are no direct input services involved in power generation from Bagasse. In so far as the common input services such as, telephone, internet, security etc. are concerned, these by their very na....
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....alore. E. Demand for the period upto September 2015 is even otherwise hit by limitation as full facts were in the knowledge of the department consequent to the separate audits for the period 2011-12, 2012-13 & 2013-14 as well as a Notice dated 11 May 2015 having already been issued for the period 2013-14 without invocation of the extended period. Therefore, the subsequent Notice dated 28 November 2016 could not have been issued invoking the extended period of limitation as held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Nizam Sugar Factory reported in 2008 (9) STR 314. 4. The Learned Departmental Representative supports the Orderin- Original and reiterates the findings of the adjudicating authority that electricity is an exempt....
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....ion of the Appellant that the technology for generating electricity from Bagasse is uniform across sugar factories in India and it is technically impossible to not use other indirect items (not in the nature of fuel).The Gularia Chini case itself uses the expression "no direct inputs are involved" (refer para 33 of the said decision). Indirect input services were also involved in the Gularia Chini case as evident from para 5 of the said decision. Therefore, the distinction sought to be made does not exist as long as the raw material used for generating electricity is Bagasse.Since the issue involved before us is no more res integra, we are inclined to drop the demand under Rule 6 of the CCR for the period upto 1 March 2015 by following the ....