Govt. Of India And Ors. Etc vs Madras Rubber Factory Ltd. Etc on 3 May, 1995
2. The position in law has now been clarified by this Court in Govt. of India v. Madras Rubber Factory Ltd., After considering the decisions in Union of India v. Bombay Tyre International Ltd., and, Union of India v. Godfrey Philips India Ltd.,
and Geep Industrial Syndicate Ltd. v. Union of India, (1992) 61 ELT 328 (SC) this Court proceeded to lay down the test to be applied for the purpose of deciding whether or not the packing charges are includible in the value of the product for the purposes of determining the tax liability. This Court stated as under: "The test is: whether packing, the cost whereof is sought to be included is the packing in which it is ordinarily sold in the course of a wholesale trade to the wholesale buyer. In other words, whether such packing is necessary for putting the excisable article in the condition in which it is generally sold in the wholesale market at the factory gate. If it is, then its cost is liable to be included in the value of the goods; and if it is not, the cost of such packing has to be excluded."