Assessable value includes delivery-stage freight and insurance when contracts show sale completes at the buyer's premises.

Assessable value under the Central Excise Act depends on the time and place of removal, so post-removal charges are excluded when sale is complete at the factory gate. Where the purchase orders and surrounding circumstances show that delivery, acceptance and transfer of property occur at the buyer's premises, freight, insurance and unloading charges incurred up to delivery form part of the assessable value. Applying the Sale of Goods Act principles on passage of property, the Court treated the contracts as deliveries at the buyer's premises and held that the disputed charges were includible in valuation, with the Revenue's appeal succeeding.

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Issues: Whether the assessable value of excisable goods had to include freight, insurance and unloading charges when the contracts showed delivery at the buyer's premises and not at the factory gate.

Analysis: Section 4 of the Central Excise Act makes valuation depend on the normal price at the time and place of removal. The place of removal is determinative, and where goods are sold at the factory gate, post-removal expenses such as freight and insurance are excluded. Where the contract and surrounding circumstances show that delivery, acceptance and transfer of property occur at the buyer's premises, the sale is not complete at the factory gate and charges incurred until delivery form part of the assessable value. Applying the terms of the purchase orders and the principles governing passage of property under the Sale of Goods Act, the goods were intended to be delivered and accepted at the buyer's premises, with payment after receipt and verification.

Conclusion: The assessable value was liable to include the disputed charges, and the Revenue's appeal succeeded.

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