Assessable value of composite thermoware includes the internal vessel, and aluminium utensil exemption does not apply.

The internal tiffin box or vessel placed inside the hotline was treated as an integral component of the composite thermoware product, so its value had to be included in the assessable value. The exemption for aluminium utensils was not available at that stage because the vessel lost separate identity for valuation once it became part of the marketed product. The analogy of a pressure cooker was rejected on the ground that a pressure cooker can function without such an internal vessel, unlike the hotline in issue. On that basis, inclusion of the vessel value in assessable value was upheld and the exemption claim failed.

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Issues: Whether the value of the tiffin box or vessel placed inside the hotline was includible in the assessable value of the thermoware, and whether the exemption for aluminium utensils could be applied at that stage.

Analysis: The hotline could function only with the container or tiffin carrier placed inside it, and that container formed an integral part of the product sold by the appellant. On that reasoning, the value of the vessel or box was required to be included in the assessable value of the hotline. The exemption for aluminium utensils did not assist the appellant, because once the vessel became an integral component of the composite product, its separate identity ceased for valuation purposes. The analogy of a pressure cooker was rejected because a pressure cooker can function even without such an internal vessel, unlike the hotline in question.

Conclusion: The value of the internal vessel or tiffin box was correctly included in the assessable value, and the exemption claim failed.

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