Bharat Heavy Chemicals Limited V. Commissioner of Central Excise, Nagpur – CESTAT, MUMBAI BENCH.

There is nothing in Notifications (15/2004 and 1/2006-ST) which prevents an assessee from not availing CENVAT credit and paying Service Tax on 100 % of the contract value in respect of one particular contract and availing abatement and not availing CENVAT credit in respect of another contract. In other words, there is no stipulation in the Notification that the option to avail/non-avail CENVAT credit has to be exercised uniformly in respect of all the contracts executed by the assessee. It is for the assessee to choose which formulation he wants to follow in a given contract. Notification No. 15/2004-ST and 1/2006 used the expression “in cases where” not “in all cases”. Therefore in respect of the contract where the assessee has not taken input credit prior to 1/03/2006 and input/input service tax credit on or after 01/03/2006, the assessee would be rightly entitled to the benefit under Notification No. 15/2004-ST and 1/2006.