Dharmada Charges Excluded from Assessable Value: CESTAT Ruling

The appeal before the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, Bangalore involved whether dharmada charges should be included in the assessable value for Central Excise duty payment. The Tribunal, after considering previous judgments by the Tribunal and the Apex Court, concluded that dharmada charges are not required to be added in the assessable value. The appeal was allowed based on the consistent rulings that dharmada charges are considered charity and should not be included in the assessable value, despite a conflicting decision by a Two Member Bench of the Supreme Court.

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Issues involved: Whether dharmada charges collected by the appellants are required to be added in the assessable value for payment of Central Excise duty.

Summary:
The appeal before the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, Bangalore arose from an order directing the appellants to include dharmada charges in the assessable value for Central Excise duty payment. The appellants argued that previous judgments by the Tribunal and the Apex Court had held that dharmada charges are considered charity and should not be added to the assessable value. Various cases were cited where the Tribunal and the Apex Court consistently ruled that dharmada charges are not to be included in the assessable value. However, a Two Member Bench of the Supreme Court in a different case had held otherwise, but it was noted that a Constitutional Bench had stated that a Two Member Bench should follow the decision of a Three Member Bench. Therefore, the Tribunal, after considering the Three Member Bench judgments of the Apex Court, concluded that dharmada charges are not required to be added in the assessable value, and accordingly, the appeal was allowed.

(Operative portion of the order already pronounced in open Court on conclusion of the hearing)

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