Assessable value valuation: equalized freight deductible and buyer-specific third-party inspection charges excluded from assessable value.

Equalized freight was treated as deductible in computing assessable value, as the appellate view based on Board circular and judicial precedent was not successfully challenged. Third-party inspection charges collected only from one buyer at that buyer's insistence, and paid to the inspecting agency, were held not includible in assessable value because the inspection was not shown to be part of the goods' ordinary marketability. The Revenue's challenge failed, the assessee's position was accepted on both valuation issues, and consequential relief followed.

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Issues: (i) Whether equalized freight was deductible while determining the assessable value; (ii) Whether third-party inspection charges collected from a particular buyer were includible in the assessable value.

Issue (i): Whether equalized freight was deductible while determining the assessable value.

Analysis: The deduction had already been allowed by the appellate authority on the basis of the Board circular and judicial precedent, and the Revenue did not raise any effective ground to dislodge that view.

Conclusion: The deduction of equalized freight was upheld and the Revenue's challenge failed.

Issue (ii): Whether third-party inspection charges collected from a particular buyer were includible in the assessable value.

Analysis: The inspection was undertaken only for sales to one buyer at its insistence, not for all clearances. The charges were collected from that buyer and paid over to the inspecting agencies, so the inspection was not shown to be part of the ordinary marketability of the goods.

Conclusion: The inspection charges were held not includible in the assessable value and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Final Conclusion: The common order sustained the freight deduction, excluded the third-party inspection charges from valuation, rejected the Revenue's appeal, and allowed the assessee's appeal with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Amounts collected for a buyer-specific third-party inspection, undertaken at the buyer's insistence and not shown to be necessary for ordinary marketability, do not form part of the assessable value.

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