MRP-based excise valuation applies even when goods are later given free in a promotional chain.

Goods notified for MRP-based assessment remain subject to valuation under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 when the package is statutorily required to declare retail sale price under the packaged commodities regime. The valuation is then deemed to follow the declared retail sale price after permissible abatements, and it is not displaced merely because the buyer later distributes the goods free under a promotional arrangement. The decisive factor is the statutory obligation attached to the packaged goods, not the downstream manner of supply. The Tribunal also noted its earlier view on similar facts and treated it as continuing to operate in the absence of any stay.

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Issues: Whether goods notified under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 are to be valued under the retail sale price mechanism even when the buyer distributes them free of charge in a promotional scheme, and whether the absence of a direct retail sale to the ultimate consumer takes the goods outside Section 4A.

Analysis: The goods were covered by the statutory scheme requiring declaration of retail sale price on the package under the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 and the relevant packaged commodities rules. Section 4A applies to specified goods once they are covered by that statutory requirement, and sub-section (2) deems valuation to be on the basis of the declared retail sale price after abatements. The provision does not carve out an exception merely because the goods are later supplied free in a downstream promotional arrangement. The governing factor is the statutory obligation attached to the packaged goods, not the manner in which a purchaser subsequently deals with them. The Tribunal also followed its earlier view on materially similar facts and held that the pendency of an appeal against that view did not justify ignoring it in the absence of any stay.

Conclusion: Valuation remained governed by Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where excisable goods are notified for MRP-based assessment and the package is required by law to declare retail sale price, Section 4A applies on the basis of that statutory requirement even if the goods are subsequently supplied free in a resale or promotional chain.

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