AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (12) TMI 448
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....entral Excise Tariff Act. 1985. Proceedings were initiated against the Appellant by way of issuing a Show Cause-cum-Demand Notice No.12/CE/R-11/Adjn/CGR/2016 dated 01.11.2016, wherein it has been alleged that the appellant has availed and utilized CENVAT credit amounting to Rs. 49,16,972/- on Input service on railway receipts and Service Tax Certificate for Transportation of Goods (STTG Certificate, for the period prior to 27/08/2014. 2.1. Rule 9(1) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 specifies the documents for availing CENVAT credit. This rule was amended vide Notification No. 26/2014-CE(NT) dated 27.08.2014 to include Service Tax Certificate for Transportation of Goods (STTG Certificate) issued by Indian Railways along with photocopies of the railway receipts mentioned in STTG Certificate as documents eligible for availing CENVAT Credit. The said notification did not have any retrospective effect and have enforced from the date of its publication. Thus, the Revenue took the view that prior to 27.08.2014, STTG Certificate issued by Indian Railways along with the photocopies of the railway receipt mentioned in STTG Certificate were not valid documents eligible for taking CENVAT Credit....
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....ot be denied. 4. The Ld. Authorized Representative of the Revenue appearing before us reiterated the findings in the impugned order. He argues that STTG has been prescribed as the document relevant for availing credit of service tax paid on Transportation of Goods by Rail, only with effect from 27.08.2014; hence, the credit availed by the appellant on the basis of the said document is not admissible to them prior to 27.08.2014. Accordingly, he justified the disallowance of the CENVAT Credit. 5. Heard both sides and perused the appeal records. 6. We find that the issue involved in the present appeal is the eligibility towards availment of CENVAT Credit in respect of transportation of goods by the Indian Railways on the basis of railway receipts and STTG Certificates for the period prior to 27.08.2014. It is observed that the appellant has been availing CENVAT Credit in respect of transportation of goods by Indian Railways in accordance with Rule 9 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 on the basis of railway receipts and STTG certificates issued by the Indian Railways. With effect from 27.08.2014, sub-rule (fa) has been inserted in Rule 9 (1) of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004. Fo....
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.... notice has been adjudicated as per the impugned order. 2.4 Aggrieved, the appellant has filed this appeal. 3.1 We have heard Shri Vishal Agarwal, Advocate, for the appellant and Shri Sydney D'Silva, Additional Commissioner, Authorised Representative for the Revenue. 3.2 We have considered the impugned order along with the submissions made in appeal and during the course of argument. 3.3 There is no dispute that in terms of the definition of input services as per Rule 2(k), the services against which the credit has been availed are the input services for the appellant. Admissibility of the cervat credit is determined as per Rule 3 of the Cenvat Credit Rules. Rule 9 prescribes the documents against which cenvat credit can be taken by the appellant. It does not determine the admissibility of cenvat credit in any manner. Rule 9 of the Cenvat Credit Riles prior to amendment on 27.08.2014 reads as under- "RULE 9. Documents and accounts. (1) The CENVAT credit shall be taken by the manufacturer or the provider of output service or input service distributor, as the case may be, on ne basis of any of the following documents, namely: ....
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....ns of the Finance Act or of the rules made thereunder with the intent to evade payment of service tax; or] (c) a bill of entry; or (d) a certificate issued by an appraiser of customs in respect of goods imported through a Foreign Post Office: [or, as the case may be, an Authorized Courier, registered with the Principal Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner of Customs incharge of the Customs airport.] (e) a challan evidencing payment of service tax, by the service recipient as the person liable to pay service tax; or] (f) an invoice, a bill or challan issued by a provider of input service on or after the 10th day of September, 2004; or (g) an invoice, bill or challan issued by an input service distributor under Rule 4A of the Service Tax Rules, 1994: [Provided that the credit of additional duty of customs levied under sub-section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) shall not be allowed if the invoice or the supplementary invoice, as the case may be, bears an indication to the effect that no credit of the said additional duty shall be admissible.] ((2) No CENVAT credit under sub-rule (1) sh....
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....h Court in the case of Essel Propack Ltd. (2015 (39) STR 363 (Bom.)), wherein the Hon'ble High Court has observed as follows- "7. On going through the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004, we find that they do not prescribe any documents for availing of Service Tax credit during the disputed period in respect of the Service Tax paid on goods transport agency services. The appellant, in the present case, has nowhere contended which were the specified document for availing of such credit during the relevant time. If no documents have been mentioned, TR-6 Challan has to be considered as a proper document, reflecting payment of such tax. Further, it is also not the case of the appellant that Service Tax was not paid by the respondents or that they were otherwise not entitled to such credit. 8. The Punjab & Haryana High Court, in the case of CCE v. Raison India Ltd. (2007) 6 STT 134 2008 (10) S.T.R. 505 (P & H) held that if the duty paid has the character of inputs and their receipt in manufacturer's factory and utilization in manufacture of final product is not disputed, then the credit cannot be denied to such person. It is also to be noted that the Department's Cir....