Final assessment cannot be challenged through refund proceedings when no appeal is filed against the assessment order.

Refund arising from provisional assessment could not be entertained where the final assessment had been completed and no appeal was filed against that final order. The goods were provisionally assessed, then finalised with a direction to deposit differential duty on depot sales. Because the final assessment did not accept the assessee's claim of excess duty payment, the later refund application could not be used to indirectly challenge that concluded assessment. The governing principle is that a final assessment order must be contested in the prescribed appellate manner and cannot be bypassed through refund proceedings. The refund claim was therefore held not maintainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether the refund claim arising out of provisional assessment could be entertained when the final assessment order was not challenged by appeal.

Analysis: The goods were assessed provisionally and the assessment was later finalised with a direction to deposit differential duty on depot sales. The refund claim was founded on the difference between factory gate value and consignment sale value, but the finalisation of assessment did not accept the assessee's claim regarding excess payment of duty. Since no appeal was filed against the final assessment, the subsequent refund claim could not be used to indirectly question that concluded assessment. The principle applied was that a final assessment order must be challenged in the prescribed manner and cannot be bypassed through a refund proceeding.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not maintainable, and the Revenue's appeal succeeded.

---