Provisional excise assessment limitation runs from finalisation, making refund claims maintainable when filed in time after final assessment.

A provisional excise assessment is treated as provisional in its entirety until it is finalised, and a refund claim under Rule 11 read with Rule 173J of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 is not time-barred if filed from the date of finalisation. The distinction is drawn between a truly provisional assessment and a mere protest on a particular issue. On this footing, the refund claim was maintainable because limitation began only when the assessment was finalised.

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Issues: Whether a refund claim was barred by limitation when the underlying excise assessment had been made provisionally and was finalised later.

Analysis: The assessment records showed that the department had treated the clearances as provisional. A provisional assessment stands on a different footing from an assessment merely subjected to protest on a particular issue. Once the assessment is provisional, it is provisional in its entirety and remains so until finalisation. In such a case, the limitation for a refund claim under Rule 11 read with Rule 173J of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 begins from the date of finalisation of the assessment, not from the earlier period of clearance.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not barred by limitation and was maintainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and refund was directed to be granted on the footing that limitation ran only from finalisation of the provisional assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: A provisional excise assessment must be treated as provisional in its entirety, and the limitation period for refund claims arises only upon its finalisation.

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