Ex-factory wholesale price governs valuation where statutory conditions are met; packing container cost cannot be added again.

Ex-factory wholesale price declared under Section 4(1)(a) was accepted as the assessable value because the statutory conditions for sale at the place of removal were satisfied and the Department did not dispute that position. Once the normal ex-factory sale price was ascertainable, there was no basis to resort to residual valuation or rework costing data. The use of non-returnable tin containers for packing chewing tobacco did not by itself take the goods outside Section 4(1)(a), and their cost could not be loaded again into the assessable value. The demand and consequential orders were therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the ex-factory wholesale price declared by the assessee under Section 4(1)(a) was the correct assessable value, and whether the cost of non-returnable tin containers used for packing chewing tobacco had to be loaded again into the assessable value by resort to the valuation rules.

Analysis: The declared price was accepted as the ex-factory price to wholesale buyers at the place of removal, and the Department did not dispute that the statutory conditions of Section 4(1)(a) were satisfied. Once such ex-factory sales were established, there was no necessity to examine costing data or invoke the residual valuation mechanism. The fact that the goods were sold in tin containers did not by itself exclude Section 4(1)(a), because primary packing is dealt with in the valuation framework and does not automatically compel resort to Rule 6(b) where the normal ex-factory sale price is ascertainable.

Conclusion: The assessable value had to be based on the declared ex-factory wholesale price, and the cost of the tin containers could not be separately added again. The demand and the consequential orders were not sustainable.

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