Assessable value in job-work excise must rest on a proper quantitative basis before any demand can be sustained.

In a job-work excise dispute concerning television cabinets, the Tribunal examined whether the value of moulded components supplied by the principal had to be included in the assessable value. It held that duty demand must rest on a proper quantitative and legally supportable basis, and treated the supplied component material as includible on the facts recorded. The impugned order confirming the demand was found unsustainable and was set aside, granting relief to the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the value of moulded components supplied by the principal in a job-work arrangement was liable to be included in the assessable value, and whether the demand confirmed against the assessee could be sustained.

Analysis: The dispute arose from manufacture of television cabinets on job-work basis, where the component materials were received under job-work challans and the assessee contended that the department had arbitrarily loaded the value of the supplied materials. The Tribunal noted that the same controversy had been considered in earlier decisions and that duty demands must rest on a proper quantitative basis. On the facts recorded, the value of the component material supplied by the principal was treated as includible in the assessable value, and the Tribunal found no merit in the impugned order confirming the demand.

Conclusion: The demand was not sustained and the order of the adjudicating authority was set aside in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and the assessee obtained relief from the confirmed demand.

Ratio Decidendi: In a job-work excise dispute, the demand cannot be sustained unless the assessable value is properly determined on a legally supportable quantitative basis, and an order confirming demand without such sustainable foundation is liable to be set aside.

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