Aglowmed Ltd. Vs Commissioner Central Goods And Service Tax (CESTAT Delhi)
The appeal before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Delhi challenged the order dated 13.09.2021 passed by the Commissioner, Central Goods and Service Tax Commissionerate, Dehradun. The impugned order denied the benefit of central excise duty exemption under Notification No. 01/2011-CE dated 01.03.2011, as amended by Notification dated 17.03.2012, and confirmed a demand of ₹7,50,33,780 along with interest and penalty.
The appellant manufactures allopathic medicines falling under Chapter 30 and food products under Chapter 21 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. It had obtained the necessary licences to manufacture these products. Earlier, the appellant availed area-based exemption under a notification dated 10.06.2003 with effect from 25.12.2004. As that exemption was available for ten years, the appellant opted to pay excise duty on goods manufactured from 01.04.2014 and informed the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner by letter dated 07.04.2014. According to the appellant, the description of the goods manufactured remained the same before and after the change.
An excise audit was conducted in March 2016 covering April 2011 to March 2015, during which the appellant provided documents including registration certificates, excise returns, income tax returns, financial statements, cost audit reports, and product-wise details of assessable value and duty. The appellant stated that the auditors issued a fair audit report. A CERA audit was subsequently conducted between 19.04.2018 and 08.05.2018 covering April 2014 to June 2017, and similar documents were provided. According to the appellant, this audit also resulted in a fair audit report.
