Assessable value of aluminium tubes excludes plastic cap cost when goods are cleared uncapped and capping is not done in factory.

Where aluminium collapsible tubes are cleared from the factory in uncapped condition and capping is not carried out in the assessee's factory, the cost of the plastic cap is not includible in assessable value. The Tribunal treated the issue as fact-specific, relying on the undisputed finding that the tubes left the factory without caps. It applied the assessee's earlier case on the same facts and distinguished the Revenue's cited Supreme Court authority as dependent on the circumstances of each case. The operative principle is that no general rule applies irrespective of the actual condition of clearance.

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Issues: Whether the cost of the plastic cap was includible in the assessable value of aluminium collapsible tubes when the tubes were removed from the factory in uncapped condition.

Analysis: The Tribunal treated the issue as one turning on the factual position regarding the condition in which the tubes left the factory. It noted a categorical finding that the assessee did not carry out capping in its factory, and the Revenue did not dispute that the tubes were removed in uncapped condition. The earlier decision in the assessee's own case was held to be applicable on the facts, and the Supreme Court authority cited by the Revenue was distinguished as laying down that the question depended on the facts of each case.

Conclusion: The cost of the plastic cap was not includible in the assessable value on the facts of the case.

Ratio Decidendi: Where aluminium collapsible tubes are cleared from the factory in uncapped condition and capping is not undertaken in the assessee's factory, the cost of the plastic cap is not includible in the assessable value; the question is one of fact and no general rule can be applied irrespective of the actual condition of clearance.

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