Provisional customs assessment governs refund limitation for SAD, with the period running from finalisation, not payment.

Where customs duty, including Special Additional Duty, was assessed provisionally, the one-year period for claiming refund under Notification No. 102/2007-Customs was held to run from finalisation of the provisional assessment, not from the date of payment of duty. On that basis, the limitation objection was found unsustainable. The rejection of the refund claim was set aside and the matter remanded to the original adjudicating authority for fresh decision after completion of the provisional assessments.

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Issues: Whether the period of one year for claiming refund of Special Additional Customs Duty under Notification No. 102/2007-Customs was to be reckoned from the date of payment of duty or from the date of finalisation of provisional assessment.

Analysis: The assessments of customs duty, including SAD, were provisional and had not yet been finalised. In such a situation, the limitation for filing the refund claim could not be treated as having commenced from the date of payment of duty. The answer was supported by the view that, where assessment is provisional, the relevant date for computing the refund period is the date on which the assessment is finalised.

Conclusion: The limitation objection was not sustainable. The order rejecting refund was set aside and the matter was remanded to the original adjudicating authority for decision after finalisation of the provisional assessments.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded on the limitation issue and the refund claims were restored for fresh consideration after completion of assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: Where customs assessment is provisional, the statutory period for filing refund of SAD under the notification is computed from the date of finalisation of the provisional assessment, not from the date of payment of duty.

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