Per Justice K. Sreedharan :

These appeals have been posted before a Larger Bench of three Members on account of the conflicting decisions rendered by Benches of two Members in cases filed by same party, namely, the Steel Authority of India Ltd. In the first case reported in 1997 (90) ELT 502, this Tribunal took the view that Steel Development Fund (SDF), Engineering Goods Export Assistance Fund (EGEAF) and Joint Plant Committee Cess/charges (JPC) cannot be included in the assessable value of different categories of iron and steel manufactured by various manufacturers of steel in India. When the same issue came up again, Eastern Bench Calcutta of this Tribunal as per the decision reported in 1998 (24) RLT 394 took a contrary view and held that the above mentioned charges are part and parcel of assessable value of the produce and the department was entitled to levy excise duty on that. These conflicting decisions of coordinate Benches necessitated reference of these appeals to the Larger Bench.

2. Before proceeding further in the matter, we express our disapproval of the manner in which the Eastern Bench of two Members took a view contrary to that expressed by a coordinate Bench i