Per C.N.B. Nair : The appellants are a manufacturer of biscuits. This product is liable to central excise duty based on MRP under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944. While selling certain varieties of biscuits, the appellants supplied small quantities of certain other varieties free. Under the impugned order, duty has been demanded in respect of such "free" supplies.

2. It is the contention of the appellants that free supplies in question are in the nature of discounts and that discounts are eligible for deduction in terms of this Tribunal's order in the case of Kothari Detergents (P) Ltd. vs. C.C.E., Kanpur - 1998 (27) RLT 850 (CEGAT)=1998 (104) ELT 513. Learned Counsel for the appellants also has brought to our notice a Circular No. 673/64/2002-CX, dated 28.10.2002 [reported in 2002 (53) RLT M25] issued by the Central Board of Excise Customs in the context of MRP based assessment. Sub-para (iv) of para 4 of that Circular states, "If an individual item is supplied free in the multi-pack and has no MRP printed on it, the MRP printed on the multi-pack will be taken for purposes of valuation under Section 4A.'' Learned Counsel has explained that in the present case, the