Related-person valuation under central excise fails where parties were previously found not to be related.

For valuation under Rule 9 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules, 2000, the Tribunal held that the appellant and M/s Malkoh Marketing Pvt. Ltd. were not related persons. It relied on earlier proceedings between the same parties, where the relationship issue had already been decided in the appellant's favour and that view had been followed without reversal. As the buyers were not related, the valuation adopted on that basis could not be sustained, and the demand founded on related-person valuation failed.

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Issues: Whether the appellants and M/s Malkoh Marketing Pvt. Ltd. were related persons for the purpose of valuation under Rule 9 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules, 2000, and whether the demand could be sustained on that basis.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the relationship between the appellant and the buyer company for valuation under the Central Excise law. The Tribunal noted that the same question had already been decided in the appellants' favour in earlier proceedings, where it was held that the parties were not related. That view had been followed in later proceedings and had not been reversed.

Conclusion: The appellants were not related persons for the purpose of Rule 9, and the valuation adopted on that basis could not be sustained. The appeals were therefore allowed.

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