Dharmada excluded from central excise assessable value where separately collected as charity and credited to charitable purposes.

Amounts collected as dharmada from customers were held not to form part of the assessable value for central excise duty where they were separately collected as charitable donations and credited to charity. The Court applied the earlier binding decision in the connected matter and rejected the Revenue's contention that such collections were part of the transaction value for valuation purposes. Dharmada was therefore excluded from assessable value, and the Revenue's appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether the amount collected as dharmada from customers was liable to be included in the assessable value for levy of central excise duty.

Analysis: The dispute concerned valuation under the central excise scheme. The amount described as dharmada was collected separately as a charitable donation and credited to charity. The issue stood covered by the earlier decision in the connected matter holding that dharmada is not includible in the transaction value for assessment purposes. Following that binding determination, the Revenue's contention that the amount formed part of the assessable value was not accepted.

Conclusion: Dharmada was not includible in the assessable value, and the appeal failed.

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