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2024 (1) TMI 391 - AT - Central ExciseRecovery of duties of central excise leviable on manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredient (AQI - also known as bulk drugs) - irregular availment of CENVAT Credit - input services - HELD THAT:- The impugned order has fastened recovery of credit availed during the disputed period by relying upon statements on the premise of being tenable merely for not having been retracted. It is seen that reliance had been placed on the statement of Shri Anand Dhokia and which, by its contents, was held as having absorbed the statement of Sachin Madan with it. With the former having been made a noticee and response thereto being denial of the charges, that could well be deemed to be retraction that neutralizes the presumption that the adjudicating authority relied upon for conclusion as facts. Disallowance of credit cannot rest upon statements but must stand the test of definition of ‘input service’ in rule 2(l) of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 on facts which is sorely lacking in the impugned order. The observation of the adjudicating authority that it is upto the assessee to establish eligibility is, in our view, not a correct appreciation of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 inasmuch as recovery, initiated under rule 14 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, must engage the assessee with evidence to justify such recovery which is only then open to disputation. Matter remanded back to the original authority to decide the charges afresh - appeal allowed by way of remand.
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