- (1.) The petitioners carry on business in co-partnership as manufacturers of rubber and canvas good, including shoes, under the name of Olympia Rubber Works, at No. 10, Paymental Garden Lane, within the Municipal limits of Calcutta.
(2.) Under the Finance Act, 1954, footwears became dutiable under the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944, at the rate of 10% ad valorem. How this value is to be determined appears from Section 4 of the Central Excise and Salt Act, which reads as follows : "4. Determination of value for the purpose of duty. (a) Where under this Act any article is chargeable with duty at a rate dependent on the value of the article such value shall be deemed to be the wholesale cash price for which an article of the like kind and quality is sold or is capable of being sold at the time of the removal of the article chargeable with duty from the factory or any other premises of manufacture or production for delivery at the place of manufacture or production or if a wholesale market does not exist for such article at such place at the nearest place where such market exists; or (b) Where such price is not ascertainable, the price at which an article of the like kind and quality is sold or is capable of being sold by the manufacturer or producer or his agent, at the time of the removal of the article chargeable with duty from such factory or other premises for delivery at the place of manufacture or production or if such article is not sold or is not capable of being sold at such place, any other place nearest thereto. Explanations . In determining the price of any article under this section no abatement or deduction shall be allowed except in respect of trade discount and the amount of duty payable at the time of the removal of the article chargeable with duty from the factory or other premises aforesaid."
(3.) Being large scale manufacturers of footwears, the petitioners say special arrangement was made for collection of excise duty from them. According to the petitioners, they used to submit price lists of goods manufactured by them to the Central Excise authorities, from time to time and also used to make known to them the changes in the price structure. The Central Excise authorities, according to the petitioners used to approve of such lists at first provisionally and later on after market verification finally and used to assess excise duties on the basis of the approved list.;