N R C LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By the above Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Petitioners take exception to the Notification dated 30.3.1994 in so far as it purports to prevent the Petitioners from taking Modvat Credit after 30.6.1994 on the basis of a gate pass issued prior to 1.4.1994. The Petitioners also challenge orders/letters dated 20.12.1994 and 6.1.1995 and the communication dated 8.7.1998.

(2.) The facts necessary to be cited for adjudication of the above Petition can be stated thus :

(3.) A circular came to be issued by the Central Government being No. 76/76/94CX dated 8th November 1994 by which circular the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) forwarded a copy of Notification No.64CE (NT) dated 7.11.1994 amending Rule 57H of the said Rules. It was inter alia stated in the said circular that amendment was necessitated to remove the difficulties arising out of the budgetary changes in the year 199495 relating to acceptance of an invoice as the proper document for the purposes of Modvat Credit and on account of the issuance of Notification such as Notification No.21/94 and Notification No.32/94. The said circular clarified that the invoice/document issued, inter alia, by a manufacturer from his factory as a valid document for the purposes of allowing Modvat Credit and such invoice should contain the details as referred to in Notification No.15/94 and Notification No.21/94. By the said circular, the Assistant Commissioner was directed to recognize such document if issued by the categories of persons mentioned in the notifications who had got themselves registered under Rule 57GG. It was further clarified that the document prescribed above by the CBEC could be accepted by the Assistant Collector only up to 31.12.1994. The Petitioners considering the said circular dated 8.11.1994 made an application dated 8.11.1996 under Rule 57H(1) to the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise which came to be rejected by the Assistant Commissioner vide communication dated 8.7.1998 on the ground that admissibility of the Modvat Credit on the basis of gate pass had already been communicated vide the Range Officer's letter dated 6.1.1995. The said letter dated 8.7.1998 is also impugned in the present Petition.