Incomplete assessable value determination cannot stand; price list approval was set aside and remanded for fresh assessment.

An approval of a price list must determine a definite assessable value for assessment to be valid. Where the adjudicating authority left the value open to multiple possibilities, depending on factory-gate transactions or the declared prices of another undertaking, the determination was incomplete and did not conclusively resolve the issue. An appellate order affirming such an indeterminate assessment could not stand. The order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded for fresh determination of assessable value in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the order approving the price list and determining the assessable value of molasses was a valid and complete adjudication.

Analysis: The order did not fix any definite assessable value. Instead, it indicated multiple possible values depending on whether transactions had taken place at the factory gate or whether the declared prices of another sugar undertaking were to be taken into account. Since the adjudicating authority did not identify which value would actually govern assessment, the order was incomplete and did not conclusively decide the matter. The appellate order upholding such an incomplete determination could not stand.

Conclusion: The order was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh determination of the assessable value in accordance with law.

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