MRP-based valuation under section 4A applies only to retail sale goods, not supplies to institutional buyers.

Valuation under section 4A of the Central Excise Act applies only where goods are packed and intended for retail sale with the statutory MRP-based regime; mere declaration of MRP is not decisive. Goods supplied to the Canteen Stores Department as an institutional buyer, through a bidding process and not for ordinary retail distribution, fall outside section 4A and are assessable under section 4. On that basis, the demand, interest, and penalties founded on section 4A could not survive, and the impugned order was set aside.

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Issues: Whether goods cleared for supply through the Canteen Stores Department were liable to assessment under section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, or whether valuation under section 4 of that Act applied because the clearances were not for retail sale.

Analysis: Liability under section 4A depends on whether the goods are packaged and intended for retail sale with the statutory requirement of declaration of maximum retail price. The decisive factor is the intended market for the goods, not the mere presence of an MRP declaration. Goods supplied to an institutional buyer such as the Canteen Stores Department are not cleared for ordinary retail sale, and the legal-metrology regime applicable to retail packages does not govern such clearances in the same manner. Where the goods are procured through a bidding process for supply to the Canteen Stores Department and the material indicates that they are not intended for retail sale, section 4A is not attracted.

Conclusion: The goods were not liable to assessment under section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and valuation under section 4 applied. The demand, interest, and penalties based on section 4A could not survive.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and the impugned order was set aside because the clearances were held to be outside the MRP-based valuation regime.

Ratio Decidendi: For section 4A valuation, the governing test is whether the goods are intended for retail sale and are subject to the statutory MRP-based retail package regime; supplies to an institutional buyer for non-retail distribution are assessable under section 4.

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