Assessable value under exemption notification must deduct special excise duty unless the notification clearly says otherwise.

For computing assessable value under Notification No. 245/83 on retail price less 15% discount, the deductible excise duty included special excise duty under the relevant Finance Act. The notification's reference to "value" was read consistently with Section 4(4)(d)(ii) of the Central Excises Act, 1944, which excludes not only duty of excise under the central enactment but also the aggregate of effective excise duties under other Central enactments. The explanation in the notification was treated as fixing the order of deduction, not as limiting deduction to basic excise duty. In the absence of contrary wording, the statutory scheme governed the computation.

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Issues: Whether, for working out the benefit of Notification No. 245/83 and determining assessable value on the basis of retail price less 15% discount, the amount of excise duty deductible before allowing the discount includes special excise duty payable under the relevant Finance Act.

Analysis: The notification required the assessable value to be determined with reference to retail price after deducting excise duty and then allowing the stipulated discount. The expression "value" in the notification had to be read consistently with the scheme of Section 4(4)(d)(ii) of the Central Excises Act, 1944, which excludes from assessable value not only duty of excise under the Central enactment but also the aggregate of effective excise duties under other Central enactments. The explanation to the notification was understood as fixing the sequence of deduction, not as restricting the deduction to basic excise duty alone. In the absence of a contrary indication in the notification, the statutory meaning of "value" governed the computation.

Conclusion: The deductible excise duty included special excise duty under the relevant Finance Act, and the contrary view of the lower authorities was incorrect.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification uses the expression "value" without excluding the statutory scheme, assessable value must be computed in accordance with Section 4(4)(d)(ii), so all excise duties excluded by that provision are deductible unless the notification expressly provides otherwise.

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