TMI Blog1997 (9) TMI 102X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gment of Tribunal holding that service charges @ ₹ 3.00 per crate claimed by the appellant are to be included in the assessable value is set aside. Since the matters have already been remitted to the Assistant Collector of Excise for the purpose of verifying the actual rental charges of the bottles and re-determine the assessable value of the aerated water, it is directed that the Assistant Collector of Excise shall also verify the actual service charges and re-determine the assessable value of the aerated water after such verification. - 11445-11447 of 1995 - - - Dated:- 2-9-1997 - S.C. Agrawal and M. Jagannadha Rao, JJ. [Judgment per : S.C. Agrawal, J.]. - M/s. Vijayawada Bottling Co. Ltd., the appellant herein, is a manu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed - 1988 (36) E.L.T. 730 (S.C.) = 1988 (4) SCC 139, both the learned Members held that rental charges were includible in the assessable value. There was, however, difference of opinion among the learned Members on the question whether service charges are includible in the assessable value. The Judicial Member [Miss S.V. Maruthi], relying upon the order of the Tribunal in Collector of Central Excise v. Century Spg. and Mfg. Co. Ltd., 1988 (37) E.L.T. 277 held that the service charges that were claimed related to unloading, sorting out the branded bottles, separating the broken bottles before the bottles are sent to automatic bottle washing plant and that those activities do not relate to the manufacture of aerated waters which are the subje ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the excisable goods in question. In view of the majority opinion the Tribunal has held that the service charges, namely, for sorting out the printed bottles separating the broken bottles before they are sent to automatic bottle washing plant relate to manufacture of aerated water and are includible in the assessable value of aerated water. The appeal of the appellant as regards service charges was, therefore, dismissed, but the appeal was allowed in respect of the rental charges and the matter was remitted to the Assistant Collector to verify the actual rental charges and re-determine the assessable value of aerated water for deducting the same from the price of the aerated water. Feeling aggrieved by the decision of the Tribunal, relati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d that the department accepts that the containers were durable and returnable and that their cost is not includible in the assessable value of chlorine as per Section 4(4)(d)(i). The Tribunal, therefore, held that the cost has to be the full cost of packing which should take in not only the initial purchase price of the container but also the further expenses on its maintenance and repairs. The said decision of the Tribunal has been affirmed in appeal in Collector of Central Excise, Bombay-3 v. M/s. Century Spg. and Mfg. Co. Ltd. (Civil Appeal No. 4207 of 1988), decided on July 15, 1997 [1997 (94) E.L.T. 16 (S.C.)]. 5.In the present case, as recorded by the Tribunal, the fact that the bottles are returnable and durable are not disputed. B ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d not as part of the manufacturing process of aerated water. The position is not very different from that in the case of Century Spg. Mfg. Ltd. (supra) where the durable and returnable containers were used again for supply of gas and it was held that charges for maintenance and repairs of such containers were not includible in the assessable value of the gas. We are, therefore, unable to uphold the view of the majority in the Tribunal that the service charges claimed by the appellant have to be included in the assessable value. 7.In the result, the appeals are allowed, the impugned judgment of Tribunal holding that service charges @ Rs. 3.00 per crate claimed by the appellant are to be included in the assessable value is set aside. Sinc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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