M/S.HBL AIRCRAFT BATTERIES LTD. vs COMMNR. OF CENTRAL EXCISE,HYD. — C.A. No. 898/1998

Case Summary: HBL Aircraft Batteries Ltd. v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Hyderabad The Supreme Court allowed HBL Aircraft Batteries' appeal and rejected the excise authority's demand for differential duty on batteries supplied to the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The court held that the assessable value of silver used in manufacturing these batteries should be Rs. 2,500/kg—the rate at which MOD procured silver from government mints—rather than the open market price of Rs. 6,666/kg. The court found that the MOD's contractual arrangement with the manufacturer constituted "normal practice" under excise law, making the lower contract price the appropriate valuation basis for this specific class of buyer. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.