Provisional assessment under Central Excise rules cannot be refused where complete duty data was already available for finalisation.

Provisional assessment under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules, 1994 was considered for the financial years 1998-99 to 2000-01. The applicable principle was that provisional assessment is justified only when the value needed for assessment is unavailable at the relevant time. Here, the jurisdictional officer already possessed the complete material needed to determine assessable value and duty, so there was no basis to insist on a formal request for provisional assessment before finalisation. The refusal to treat the assessments as provisional was therefore unsustainable, and the assessments were directed to be finalised within the stipulated time.

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Issues: Whether the assessments for the financial years 1998-99 to 2000-01 could be treated as provisional and required finalization under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules, 1994.

Analysis: The governing rule permits provisional assessment where the value required for assessment is not available at the relevant time. On the date of the original order, the jurisdictional officer already had the complete information necessary to determine the assessable value and duty payable for the relevant financial years. In that situation, there was no basis to refuse finalization by insisting on a formal request for provisional assessment. The proper course was to finalize the assessments on the material already available.

Conclusion: The refusal to treat the assessments as provisional was unsustainable, and the assessments were directed to be finalized within the stipulated time. The appellant succeeded.

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