The Chandigarh bench of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that Engineer’s services are Input Services under Rule 5 of Cenvat Credit Rules (CCR) and overruled the decision of Commissioner (Appeals) which upheld the order by the Commissioner of Service Tax (CST), Delhi (the Respondent) rejecting the refund of Cenvat Credit of Bechtel India Pvt Ltd (the Appellant).
Bechtel India Pvt Ltd claimed was registered with Service Tax for providing services under the category of consulting Engineer’s Services and filed refund claims for unutilized Cenvat Credit under Rule 5 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 read with Notification No.5/2006-CE(NT) but the CST in the impugned order sanctioned a refund amount of Rs. 4,73,75,153/- and rejected the amount of Rs. 1,56,34,321/-.
Aggrieved by the order the company filed an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the order of the Deputy Commissioner.
The counsel who appeared on behalf of the company submitted that the impugned order was issued without properly appreciating the definition of ‘Input Service’ and without considering the precedent decisions on the same issue, therefore the order could not be sustained.
He further elaborately submitted various grounds for rejection of the refund amount and the appellant’s submissions against refund rejection, substantiated by case laws.
The counsel appearing on behalf of the revenue justified the impugned order and submitted that the refund has rightly been rejected given Notification No. 5/2006-CE(NT). He also relied upon the decision of the High Court of Madras in the case of Commissioner of Central Excise, Coimbatore vs.Sutham Nylocots, 2014 and High Court of Gujrat in the case of Commissioner of Central Excise & Customs, Vadodara vs. Steelco Gujarat Ltd.
The bench consisting of S.S. Garg (Judicial Member) and P. Anjani Kumar (Technical Member) after the hearing both sides held that the grounds for rejecting the refund claims by the company were not valid and the appeal by the company was allowed with consequential relief, if any, as per law.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
