Provisional customs assessment requires an express order; refund cannot reopen a final assessment that was never challenged.

Provisional assessment under the Customs Act requires an express order under Section 18 and cannot be inferred merely from an importer's request or pending related proceedings. Where Bills of Entry were finally assessed and the request for provisional assessment was rejected, the assessment remained final. A refund claim cannot be used to reopen such a final assessment, and the assessment order must be challenged directly if relief is sought. On these principles, the refund claim was not maintainable and the appeals failed.

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Issues: Whether the assessments could be treated as provisional in the absence of an express order under Section 18 of the Customs Act, 1962, and whether refund could be claimed without challenging the final assessment.

Analysis: Provisional assessment requires a specific order and cannot be presumed merely because the importer sought it or because related proceedings were pending. Where the Bills of Entry were finally assessed and the request for provisional assessment was rejected, the assessment remained final. In such a situation, a refund claim cannot be used to reopen the assessment, and the principles governing challenge to assessment apply with full force.

Conclusion: The assessments were not provisional and the refund claim was not maintainable. The finding is against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Final Conclusion: The appeals failed because the customs assessments were final, not provisional, and the refund claims could not succeed without disturbing the assessment order.

Ratio Decidendi: Provisional assessment under the Customs Act requires an express order, and a refund proceeding cannot reopen a final assessment that has not been challenged.

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