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2022 (5) TMI 974 - HC - GSTCENVAT Credit - substance of the dispute relates to the payment by the assessee of the service tax component pertaining to manpower and the like services received by the assessee partly for the quarter ending March 31, 2017 and partly for the quarter ending June 30, 2017 long after the appointed date of July 1, 2017 and claiming cenvat credit therefor - HELD THAT:- In terms of Section 140(1) of the Act of 2017, a qualified registered person is entitled to take the amount of cenvat credit carried forward in the return relating to the period immediately prior to the appointed date as furnished by such person under the existing law. In other words, the essence of Section 140(1) of the Act of 2017 is that if a matter is reflected in the return for the relevant period, due credit therefor may be taken as long as the return has been filed in accordance with the existing law and in the manner prescribed thereby. In this case, the return pertaining to the quarter immediately preceding the appointed date was filed on October 24, 2017, a day after the service tax component pertaining to the payment was tendered by the assessee, together with a GST TRAN-1 form duly filled up. Since it is evident that the service tax return relating to the quarter ended June 30, 2017, immediately preceding the appointed date, was filed in accordance with the existing law and there is no dispute that it has been filed in the prescribed form since the Revenue has acted thereon, it is now necessary to see the impact of such service return filed in October, 2017 qua the entitlement of the assessee to obtain cenvat credit for the service tax component - it is Section 140(1) of the Act of 2017 which is the only guiding light. As noticed earlier, the relevant provision pertains to the cenvat credit carried forward in the relevant return. Cenvat credit is qualified in the amended provision by the additional words incorporated therein “of eligible duties” and further qualified by Rule 117 of the Rules of 2017 that refers to “eligible duties and taxes”. A fortiori, if the relevant return of an assessee – irrespective of whether it was filed before the appointed date or not – was furnished in accordance with the existing law and in the prescribed manner, the cenvat credit on account of service tax reflected therein could be availed of in terms of Section 140(1) of the Act of 2017. The Revenue’s limited challenge to the appellate order of January 8, 2021 pertaining to cenvat credit claimed by the respondent assessee to the extent of Rs.2,18,75,232/- fails and the appellate order in such regard is found to be unexceptionable - Petition dismissed.
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