Post-clearance commissioning charges excluded from assessable value where excisable goods were already functional at removal.

Commissioning charges for services performed after clearance of excisable goods were held outside the assessable value under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The goods were already capable of functioning as a clock system at the time of removal from the factory gate, so post-clearance commissioning at the buyer's site was not part of the value of the goods. There was also no basis to treat any portion of the sale price as having been recovered under the guise of commissioning charges. Those expenses were therefore not includible in assessable value.

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Issues: Whether commissioning charges for services rendered after clearance of excisable goods are includible in the assessable value under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Analysis: The goods were admitted to be capable of functioning as a clock system at the time of clearance from the factory gate. The charges in question related to commissioning done subsequently at the buyer's site and were for post-clearance services. On that basis, there was no legal warrant under Section 4 to add such expenses to the assessable value. It was also not the case that any part of the price of the goods had been recovered under the guise of commissioning charges.

Conclusion: Commissioning charges were not includible in the assessable value; the appeal was rightly rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Expenses for services rendered after clearance of excisable goods, when the goods are already functional at the time of removal, do not form part of assessable value under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

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