2002 (4) TMI 75 - SUPREME COURT

Whether the assessee and the chemical company were "related persons" and that the price at which the assessee sold glassware to the chemical company should be marked up for the purposes of valuation for excise duty?

Held that:- The shareholders of a public limited company do not, by reason only of their shareholding, have an interest in the business of the company. Equally, the fact that two public limited companies have common Directors does not mean that the one company has an interest in the business of the other. It is, therefore, not possible to uphold the conclusion of the Tribunal that the assessee and the chemical company were related persons. This being so, it is unnecessary to go into the alternate arguments advanced on behalf of the assessee. Thus the appeal succeeds, the Revenue shall refund to the assessee the deposit towards duty and the bank guarantee for the balance shall stand discharged.