TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (8) TMI 166
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....AC of Central Excise Act, 1944 for the period from January 2009 to December 2013 . 2.1 The facts briefly stated are that the Appellant is in the business of manufacturing footwear and parts of footwear falling under chapter 64 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 ("CETA"). The Appellant sold footwear to several institutional customers based on the purchase orders issued to them viz., M/s. JSW Ltd., M/s. Excide Batteries Ltd., M/s. HAL, etc. 2.2 On verification of the accounts of the Appellant, it was found that they had cleared the impugned Goods in bulk to institutional buyers under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944. And as per Standards & Weights and Measures Act, 1976 / Rules, 1977, Section 4A clearances would not be applicable to the institutional buyers but valuation to be done under Section 4 of the CEA, 1944. Hence a Show Cause Notice was issued proposing demand of Rs.3,19,701/- being the differential duty on incorrect valuation besides demand of interest thereon under Section 11AA and imposition of penalty under Section 11 AC of the CEA, 1944 covering the period from January 2009 to December 2013. 2.3 After the due process of law, the Original Adjudicati....
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....f Hindustan Unilever Limited vs. Commr. GST and CE., Puducherry [2024 (5) TMI 771 - CESTAT CHENNAI], for the principle that when there is no statutory requirement under the law for declaring MRP on the packages, the assessment is to be done under Section 4 of the Excise Act. The Department should have at best resorted to valuation under Section 4 using the transaction value i.e., purchase order value, or under Rule 7 of the Central Excise Valuation (Determination of price of Excisable Goods) Rules, 2000. vi. It is further submitted that the Circular No. 354/81/2000-TRU, dated 30.06.2000 issued by the CBEC wherein vide paragraph 4 and 5 it was clarified that the transaction value to be considered for the purpose of valuation under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act must be purely a commercial consideration charged by a non-related buyer and seller, where the price is the sole consideration for sale. Further, it was also clarified therein that valuation of goods for excise purposes on value charged as per commercial practices rather than looking for a notionally determined value. Thus, the impugned order merits to be set aside on this ground alone since the Respondent erron....
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....n the Central Government specifies goods where the MRP/RSP is required to be declared on the package. Here's an analysis of each section and its applicability: Section 4: Valuation based on Transaction Value This section is the default method for valuing excisable goods for excise duty purposes. It generally uses the transaction value, which is the price at which the goods are sold by the assessee to a buyer, as the basis for valuation. This section is applicable unless the Central Government specifies otherwise, making Section 4A applicable. Section 4A: Valuation based on Retail Sale Price (RSP) This section is specifically applicable to goods where the Central Government has mandated the declaration of a retail sale price on the package. The government can also allow for abatements (deductions) from the RSP to arrive at the assessable value for excise duty. This section is applicable to goods covered under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, or any other law that requires the declaration of RSP on the package. If a manufacturer fails to declare or tampers with the RSP, the goods may be confiscated, and the value will be determined by other prescribed methods. The decla....
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....re binding on departmental officers as long as they remain in effect. 8.6 In Paper Products Ltd. Versus Commissioner of Central Excise [1999 (8) TMI 70 - SUPREME COURT] it was held by the Supreme Court that the Departmental circulars are binding on the revenue authorities and as the circular was in force at the relevant point of time, the demand against the appellants is not sustainable. 8.7 We find that the Department in this issue have gone beyond the contents of this Circular and imported the provisions of Section 4A to this case to demand the differential duty on MRP Value. 8.8 We find that for computing the Duty demand, the department has taken the MRP value of the goods as assessable value without extending the benefit of Abatement and worked out the Duty demand. The institutional supplies were covered by purchase orders and the values in the same were ignored by the department. It is noted that the Department has adopted a mix of the values under Section 4A (MRP Price) without abatement and ignored the value shown in the purchase order to arrive at an inflated Duty demand beneficial to the Revenue. The reasoning shown by the department in rejecting the purchase orde....
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....termediaries, who after the purchase of the said goods, distribute it further to the final consumer. 16. In such a circumstance, where the purchaser institution is deemed to not be a consumer, the sale also cannot be held to be a retail sale as per the Act. Further, since the impugned sale is not a retail sale as per the Act, there exists no mandate of law on the Respondent herein to affix an MRP on the goods sold, and hence the said impugned transaction cannot claim benefit under Section 4(A) of the Act. 17. Again, at the sake of repetition, we find it important to clarify that the mere affixation of MRP does not make goods eligible to find refuge under Section 4(A) of the Act, and what is required along with such affixation is a mandate of law that directs the seller to affix such MRP. ii. The Appellant has also relied upon the decision in the case of M/s. Surya Roshini Limited Versus Principal Commissioner of CGST, Bhopal [2024 (1) TMI 980 - CESTAT NEW DELHI] which has held: - "23. In our considered view, in the factual matrix of the case, if the Metrology Rules are interpreted to include the bulbs sold to EESL, it means that very conditions o....