Excise duty exemption defeats valuation inquiry, and a later Tribunal view cannot alter the position in the pending appeal.

Where a commodity was already treated as exempt from excise duty, its valuation did not survive for examination, because exemption removed the need to assess duty liability. A later Tribunal decision describing the product differently could not displace that position in the present appeal, as it was rendered subsequently and was relevant only to future disputes where exemption itself remains contested. On that basis, the appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether valuation of the commodity was required to be examined when it stood exempt from excise duty, and whether the later decision of the Tribunal could alter that position in the present appeal.

Analysis: The appeal turned on the premise that the commodity was already exempt from duty on the strength of an earlier decision. Once exemption was accepted, valuation did not arise for consideration. The later Tribunal decision characterising the product differently was rendered subsequently and could not govern the present matter, though it may apply to future disputes where exemption itself is in issue.

Conclusion: The question of valuation did not survive because the commodity was exempt from duty, and the appeal failed.

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