Customs, Excise and Gold Tribunal - Mumbai
Puneet Resins Ltd. vs Commissioner Of Customs And Central ... on 9 September, 2003
ORDER Jyoti Balasundaram, Member (J)
1. The application for waiver of pre-deposit of duty of Rs. 18,48,507/- and penalty of Rs. 10,000/- arises out of the order of the Commissioner (Appeals), who has confirmed that duty and penalty by denying the benefit of the exemption claimed y the applications herein, in terms of sr. no. 3 of the table to notification 18/95-CE dated 16.3.1995
2. We have heard both sides. Under the above mentioned notification, exemption is available inter alia to rubber products in the form of plates, sheets and strips, unhardened and unvulcanised, and .......... falling under CETA sub-heading 4005.00, subject to the condition that no credit of duty paid on the inputs used in the manufacture of the said goods has been availed of under Rule 57A of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. In the present case, the benefit has been denied on the ground that the products in question were in granular or lump form which were only rolled into sheet like form for the purpose of ease of transportation and they are therefore not in any of the forms mentioned against sr. no. 3. of the table to the notification. It is the contention of the applications that the process of manufacture, as verified by the Assistant Commissioner, itself would show that the product is converted into a sheet and therefore is covered as on of the products falling under sr.no. 3 of the table to the notification. We find that there is some substance in the submission of the learned departmental representative that it is not in sheet form but only rolled in sheet like form for convenience of transportation, that the invoices for the goods manufactured and cleared by the applicants do not show that they are cleared in the form of sheets, that they are cleared on weight basis and that if what has been cleared was sheets, specific size would be been mentioned. The matter is arguable and it cannot be said that the applicants have made out a strong prima facie case for total waiver.
3. Having regard to the fact that under sr. no. 5 of the table to the notification, all products falling under CETA sub-heading 4005.00 would attract duty at the rate of 20% ad valorem, and also having further regard to the fact that modvat credit would be available to the applicants, and also to the submission regarding sum duty price, we direct pre-deposit of duty of Rs. 6 lakhs within eight weeks from today and on such deposit, pre-deposit of the balance duty and penalty shall stand waived and recovery thereof stayed pending the appeal. Failure to comply with this direction shall result in vacation of stay and dismissal of the appeal, without prior notice.
4. Compliance to be reported on 24th November, 2003.