Apprentices as workmen under exemption notification and duty deduction from invoice value were both accepted.

Apprentices working in the factory were treated as workmen for the purpose of the exemption notification because the notification did not distinguish between apprentices and other workers, and the Apprentices Act, 1961 was not applicable at the relevant time. The relevant headcount was the total number of workmen employed throughout the whole day, not the number in a single shift, so the concession could be applied on that basis. A deduction for duty found leviable was also permitted from the invoice value, reducing the assessable value accordingly.

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Issues: Whether apprentices working in the factory were to be treated as workmen for the purpose of Notification No. 19/55-C.E. dated 18-4-1955, and whether deduction towards duty found leviable was permissible from the invoice value.

Analysis: The notification did not distinguish between apprentices and workers for extending the concession. Since the Apprentices Act, 1961 did not apply to the factory at the relevant time, every person working in the factory and contributing to production had to be treated as a workman for the purpose of the notification. The relevant criterion was the total number of workmen employed during the whole day, not the number engaged in a single shift. The Government also accepted that a deduction towards the duty found leviable could be made from the invoice value.

Conclusion: Apprentices were treated as workmen for the notification, and the assessee was entitled to deduction of the duty found leviable from the invoice value.

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