Provisional assessment under Rule 9B: acknowledged requests can make later clearances provisional even without a formal officer's order.

Clearances made after an acknowledged request for provisional assessment were treated as provisional under Rule 9B because the first proviso deemed such clearances provisional until the proper officer's direction was issued and communicated. Although no formal order was passed and no bond was required, the acknowledged request brought the clearances within the deeming provision. The article also notes the broader view that payments made while price or classification is still being finalised are provisional even where all procedural steps under Rule 9B are not strictly completed. The effect was that the clearances remained provisional and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether clearances made after an acknowledged request for provisional assessment could be treated as provisional under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 even though the proper officer did not pass a formal order or require execution of a bond.

Analysis: Rule 9B(1) contemplated a request by the assessee followed by a direction of the proper officer, but the first proviso specifically declared that all clearances covered by such a request and submitted under dated acknowledgement shall be deemed to be cleared provisionally until the direction of the proper officer is issued and communicated. In the present case, the request for provisional assessment was admittedly received and acknowledged, but no direction was issued by the proper officer. The clearances after such request were therefore covered by the deeming provision and had to be treated as provisional. The reasoning was also supported by the view that payments made pending finalisation of price or classification list are provisional even where the procedural steps under Rule 9B are not fully followed.

Conclusion: The clearances were validly treated as provisional, and the Revenue's appeals were liable to be rejected.

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