Transaction value controls customs valuation; higher contemporaneous import prices alone cannot justify rejection of declared value.

The customs valuation rule required the assessable value of imported furnace oil to be based on the declared transaction value of the goods under assessment. That value could not be rejected merely because contemporaneous imports by other importers were at a higher price, especially where the accepted price arose from a commercial pricing formula agreed between the parties. On that basis, enhancement of value by substituting comparable import prices was held impermissible, and the declared transaction value was accepted.

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Issues: Whether the assessable value of imported furnace oil could be enhanced by rejecting the declared transaction value and substituting the higher value of contemporaneous imports by other importers.

Analysis: The declared transaction value had been rejected only because comparable imports by others were at a higher price. The accepted price was fixed under a commercial pricing formula agreed between the parties, and the valuation rule required assessment on the transaction value of the goods under assessment. Rejection of that value on the basis of other importers' transactions was held to be impermissible.

Conclusion: The enhancement of value was not sustainable and the declared transaction value had to be accepted. The issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Under the customs valuation rule governing transaction value, the assessable value must ordinarily be based on the transaction value of the goods under assessment, and it cannot be rejected merely because contemporaneous imports by other importers were at a higher price.

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