Wholesale package valuation under excise law: bulk clearances to distributors fell under section 4, not section 4A.

Bulk clearances to distributors in wholesale packages were held outside section 4A valuation because the package regime did not require declaration of retail sale price on such goods. The relevant packaging rules distinguished wholesale packages from multi-piece retail packages, and the fasteners were supplied in bulk to intermediaries for onward distribution. As Rule 29 required only limited declarations for wholesale packages, the statutory condition for section 4A was not met. Valuation under section 4 on transaction value was therefore correct, and assessment under section 4A was not applicable.

---

---

Issues: Whether goods cleared to distributors in wholesale packages were liable to valuation under section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, or were correctly assessed under section 4 of that Act.

Analysis: The relevant rules distinguished between wholesale packages and multi-piece packages. A wholesale package is one supplied in bulk to an intermediary for onward sale or distribution, while a multi-piece package consists of individually packed or labeled pieces intended for retail sale. On the facts, the fasteners were cleared in bulk to wholesalers for further distribution in smaller quantities. Rule 29 of the Standard of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977 required only limited declarations on wholesale packages and did not require declaration of retail sale price. The conditions for valuation under section 4A were therefore not satisfied, because the statutory requirement to declare retail sale price on such packages was absent.

Conclusion: The goods cleared to distributors were wholesale packages and were not assessable under section 4A; valuation under section 4 on transaction value was correct, and the demand could not stand.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 4A applies only where the goods are sold in packages for which the relevant law requires declaration of retail sale price; bulk clearances to intermediaries in wholesale packages are assessable under section 4, not section 4A.

---