9911796707
TMI Blog1999 (6) TMI 191X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... determined under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act, 1944. However w.e.f. 1-9-1997 footwear falling under Tariff Heading 64.01 were notified under Section 4A of the said Act and w.e.f. the said date, the assessable value of footwear became liable to be determined under Section 4A as contended by the appellants. 1.3 During the entire relevant period, the rate of Central Excise duty under sub-heading No. 6401.12 of the C.E.T.A. was nil in respect of the said goods being footwear of value not exceeding Rs. 75/- per pair. Accordingly w.e.f. 1st September, 1997 assessable value of all footwear falling under Heading 64.01 was arrived at by the appellant on the basis of their retail sale price and after deducting 50% of such retail sale pri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be 50% of the retail sale price. It is therefore submitted by him that value on which duty has been paid by the appellant has been correctly arrived at because in all such cases the value of the footwear would be not exceeding to Rs. 75/- per pair and therefore the rate of duty is nil against sub-heading 6401.12. It is further pointed out that the provisions of Section 4A for valuation of excisable goods for the purposes of assessment of duty in respect of goods specified under the said section override the provisions of Section 4 of the Act. Therefore the value of the goods specified under the said Section 4A has to be arrived only in terms of that section and not in terms of the Section 4. This is apparent from the provisions of sub-sect ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t be availed of by the appellants. Therefore they were required to pay duty at the other appropriate rate i.e. 15% of the value of the goods. Value of the goods, according to him for the purpose of charging 15% duty would no doubt be arrived at in terms of the Section 4A, since footwear has been specified under that section. Therefore the value for the purpose of assessment of duty has also to be arrived at under that section. 5. It was put to Shri R.N. Das, Sr. Advocate that this was never the case of the Revenue as has now been advanced by him. He submits that this plea being a plea of law regarding construction of the provisions of Tariff heading and sub-heading, this plea can be taken at any stage. Any query was put to him whether ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 6401.12 is not 'price' but value. Value has been specifically defined in terms of Section 4A so far footwear under Tariff Heading 64.01 is concerned. Central Excise Tariff Act is only an adjunct enactment to the Central Excise Act, 1944. Therefore the expression 'value' used in Tariff sub-heading 6401.12 for its scope has to be considered in the context of definition of that expression under the Central Excise Act. 7.2 He further submits that the subsequent amendment referred to by the ld. Advocate for Revenue supports the appellant rather than the respondent. The amendment not merely replaces the word 'value' by the expression retail sale price, but also increases the limit from Rs. 75/- to Rs. 125/-. He therefore submits that the s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amount of abatement, if any, from such retail sale price as the Central Government may allow by notification in the Official Gazette. (3) The Central Government may, for the purpose of allowing any abatement under sub-section (2), take into account the amount of duty of excise, sales tax and other taxes, if any, payable on such goods. Explanation 1. - For the purpose of this section, "retail sale price" means the maximum price at which the excisable goods in packaged form may be sold to the ultimate consumer and includes all taxes local or otherwise, freight, transport charges, commission payable to dealers, and all charges towards advertisement, delivery, packing, forwarding and the like, as the case may be. Heading No. Sub-headin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat footwear has been specified under Section 4A. Consequently the provisions of Section 4A would apply for determining the 'value' of the goods. 10. Alternative plea as found by the adjudicating authority that 'value' would refer to `value' under Section 4 is also not correct in view of the non obstante clause used in Section 4A. The provisions of Section 4A will therefore override the provisions of Section 4 if excisable goods have been specified under Section 4A. In that view Revenue's contention is also not accepted. 11. Reliance placed by the ld. Advocate on subsequent amendment in our opinion fortifies the contention of the appellants rather than that of the Revenue. The subsequent amendment makes a change both in content ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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