Valuation rebate treated as borrowing, not discount; deduction from assessable value was rejected.

A rebate of Rs. 250 per tonne collected for modernisation and renovation, and later claimed as a refund, was held not deductible from assessable value as a discount. The arrangement was treated as a borrowing mechanism for a specified purpose, with repayment in the next year and no interest, rather than a trade discount or cash discount affecting valuation. On that basis, the claimed abatement was not admissible.

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Issues: Whether the amount described as rebate of Rs. 250 per tonne, collected earlier for modernisation and renovation and later sought to be refunded, was deductible from the assessable value as a discount.

Analysis: The rebate had been recovered in the earlier period on the footing that it would finance modernisation and renovation, would be repaid in the next year, and would carry no interest. The stated scheme was therefore treated as a borrowing arrangement for specified contingencies, not as a trade discount or cash discount affecting valuation.

Conclusion: The deduction was not admissible and the claim for abatement failed.

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