Interest on short-paid excise duty survives voluntary pre-notice payment where provisional assessment was not sought.

Interest under Section 11AB remained payable on differential central excise duty short-paid at the time of removal, even though the assessee later paid the duty voluntarily before issuance of a show cause notice. Section 11A(2B) permits payment of duty before notice but does not exclude interest, which arises independently where duty has been short-paid or short-levied. The assessee's failure to seek provisional assessment under Rule 7(1), despite inability to determine value at clearance, supported the demand. Revenue neutrality did not remove the statutory liability to pay duty and consequential interest, and no waiver or time-bar applied on these facts.

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Issues: Whether interest under Section 11AB was payable on differential central excise duty paid by the assessee after removal of goods, despite voluntary payment before show cause notice, plea of revenue neutrality, and contention that provisional assessment should not have been expected.

Analysis: The duty was payable at the time of removal, and the fact that the correct assessable value was later ascertained through CAS-4 did not negate the delayed-payment consequence. Section 11A(2B) only enables payment of duty before notice and does not exclude interest; the interest liability flows independently under Section 11AB where duty has been short-paid or short-levied. The assessee could have sought provisional assessment under Rule 7(1) when unable to determine value, but did not do so. Revenue neutrality did not eliminate the statutory liability to pay duty and consequential interest, and no time-bar or waiver was available for the interest demand in these circumstances.

Conclusion: Interest under Section 11AB was rightly demanded and upheld against the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where duty is short-paid at the time of clearance, interest under Section 11AB is mandatory and follows even if the differential duty is later paid voluntarily under Section 11A(2B), unless the assessee had lawfully resorted to provisional assessment.

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