Part II price list does not bar trade discount deduction where the excise proforma itself allows discounts.

Part II price lists under the excise framework do not, by themselves, exclude trade discounts or prove that sales were at negotiated contract prices. The prescribed proforma contemplates deduction of discounts, and filing such a price list does not mean dealers cannot exist or that discounts are unavailable. On that basis, deduction for trade discounts could not be denied merely because the goods were covered by a Part II price list, and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether, for goods covered by a Part II price list, deduction on account of trade discounts could be denied on the footing that such price lists necessarily involved negotiated contract prices and excluded dealers or discounts.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the scope of Part II price lists under the relevant excise framework. Such price lists are used where goods are sold at different prices to different classes of buyers, and the mere filing of a Part II price list does not exclude the possibility of discounts. The prescribed proforma itself contemplates deductibility of discount, and the assumption that no dealers could exist where a Part II price list is filed was found to be unsound.

Conclusion: The claim for deduction of trade discounts could not be rejected merely because the goods were covered by a Part II price list; the issue was answered in favour of the assessee.

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