Multi-piece package declaration under packaged commodities rules is satisfied by the outer wrapper where individual units are not separately saleable.

Rule 17(2) of the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977 requires a multi-piece package of individual units not carrying a retail sale price to bear a declaration that the units are not intended for retail sale. Where the individual pieces are not separately packaged or labelled for separate sale, that declaration on the outer package is sufficient and no identical declaration is required on each unit. On the facts, soap bars packed together in a multi-piece wrapper satisfied this requirement through the outer declaration, so seizure for the absence of a declaration on each bar was not justified and the appellate order could not stand.

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Issues: Whether a declaration that the individual units in a multi-piece package are not intended for retail sale, when printed on the outer package, satisfies Rule 17(2) of the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977, and whether seizure for absence of such declaration on each individual soap bar was valid.

Analysis: Rule 17(1) requires additional declarations on a multi-piece package, while its proviso deals with individual pieces that are separately packaged or labelled and capable of separate sale. Rule 17(2) applies where the individual pieces do not carry retail sale price and requires the package to bear a declaration that they are not intended for retail sale. On the facts, the soap bars were contained in a multi-piece pack, were not separately packaged or labelled for individual sale, and bore no retail price. The declaration on the outer wrapper that the individual units were not for loose sale was therefore treated as compliance with Rule 17(2), and no declaration on each individual bar was required.

Conclusion: The declaration on the outer multi-piece package was sufficient compliance with Rule 17(2), and the seizure and appellate order were unsustainable.

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