Multi-piece package compliance under Rule 17 defeats treatment of compliant soap packs as non-standard packages.

A soap pack containing three separately packed 75 gm units was treated as a multi-piece package under Rule 2(j), because the definition covers two or more individually packaged or labelled pieces intended for retail sale, whether individually or as a whole. Rule 17 governs such packages by requiring declarations of the number of pieces, retail sale price, and, where relevant, a statement that the pieces are not intended for separate retail sale. The package here carried the required declarations, so it complied with Rule 17. The quantity standard in Clause 17(c) of the Third Schedule applied to the individual units, not the aggregate weight of the compliant package, so treating it as a non-standard package was unsustainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether the petitioner's soap pack consisting of three separately packed 75 gm units was a multi-piece package, and whether such a package, when complying with Rule 17, could still be treated as a non-standard package attracting prosecution under Section 39(5) and Rule 5.

Analysis: A multi-piece package under Rule 2(j) is a package containing two or more individually packaged or labelled pieces of identical quantity intended for retail sale, either individually or as a whole. The Court held that the definition does not require the individual pieces to be separately saleable in order for the package as a whole to qualify. Rule 17 specifically governs multi-piece packages by requiring declarations of the number of pieces and the retail sale price, and where the pieces are not intended for separate retail sale, the package must state that position. The record showed that the package carried the required declarations and that the consumer could compare the price advantage. The quantity standard in Clause 17(c) of the Third Schedule was held to apply to individual units, not to the aggregate weight of a compliant multi-piece package.

Conclusion: The package was a multi-piece package, Rule 17 was duly complied with, and the prosecution and sanctions treating it as a non-standard package were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A compliant multi-piece package is governed by Rule 17, and its aggregate weight does not attract the standard-quantity stipulation in the Third Schedule, which applies to the individual units contained in it.

---