Excise exemption under Notification 245/83 extends where retail price is submitted to drug authorities, even without formal price approval.

Notification No. 245/83 was construed as not limiting excise exemption to medicines requiring compulsory price approval by drug authorities. The decisive condition was submission of the retail price to the drug authorities, and that requirement was satisfied even where formal approval was unnecessary. The goods accordingly fell within the notification, and the benefit of the 15% discount could not be denied on the ground that the medicines were outside the price-approval regime.

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Issues: Whether the benefit of Notification No. 245/83 granting excise exemption on the basis of a 15% discount on the retail price was confined only to medicines whose prices required approval by the drug authorities.

Analysis: The language of Notification No. 245/83 did not limit its operation to medicines subject to compulsory price approval by the drug authorities. The decisive requirement was that the retail price of the drug be submitted to the drug authorities, and that requirement was satisfied even where formal approval was not necessary. The respondent's goods therefore met the conditions for the notification.

Conclusion: The notification was applicable to the impugned goods and the benefit of the 15% discount could not be denied on the ground that the medicines were not subject to price approval by the drug authorities.

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