Provisional assessment appeal becomes infructuous once final assessment is made, even if penalty remains open.

A provisional assessment order is subordinate to the final assessment, so an appeal directed only against the provisional order becomes infructuous once the regular assessment is completed. The pendency of penalty proceedings in the final assessment does not preserve the separate appeal against the provisional assessment, because the later assessment supersedes the earlier one for appellate purposes. The Rajasthan HC relied on settled principle that the final assessment extinguishes the independent utility of the provisional-assessment challenge, and rejected any contrary result based on perceived hardship to the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether an appeal against a provisional assessment order becomes infructuous on passing of the final assessment order, even when the final assessment order keeps the question of penalty open because of the pending appeal.

Analysis: The matter was governed by the settled principle that a provisional assessment remains subordinate to the final assessment, and any appellate order relating to provisional assessment does not override or survive independently once the regular assessment is completed. The pendency of an issue such as penalty in the final assessment order did not alter that position. The earlier decision relied upon squarely held that the final assessment makes the appeal against provisional assessment infructuous, and hardship to the Revenue cannot justify a conclusion contrary to that legal position.

Conclusion: The appeal against the provisional assessment was correctly treated as infructuous after the final assessment, and the challenge to that disposal failed.

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