Finalised provisional assessment cannot be reopened for suppression claims when the material was already available at finalisation.

A finalised provisional assessment cannot later be reopened on allegations of suppression or wilful misstatement when the relevant material was already before the assessing authority at the time of finalisation. Where the original authority accepts the assessee's data and certificate and passes a speaking order finalising the assessment, that order operates as a quasi-judicial determination. In such circumstances, the Revenue's subsequent show cause notices seeking differential duty are not sustainable unless the final order is first challenged in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the Revenue could reopen the finalised provisional assessment by issuing show cause notices alleging suppression and wilful misstatement, after the original authority had passed a speaking order finalising the assessment.

Analysis: The assessment of imported kerosene was provisional only for determining the concession linked to actual consumption for extraction of paraffin. The assessee furnished data and a Chartered Accountant's certificate, which were accepted by the assessing authority, and the provisional assessment was finalised by a speaking order. That finalisation was a quasi-judicial order. The material later relied upon by the Revenue was already available when the assessment was finalised, and no further verification was undertaken before passing the final order. In these circumstances, the subsequent attempt to reopen the matter on allegations of suppression and misstatement was not sustainable, as the proper course would have been to challenge the final order in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The proceedings to recover differential duty by reopening the finalised provisional assessment were not maintainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A finalised provisional assessment culminated in a speaking quasi-judicial order cannot be reopened later on allegations of suppression or misstatement when the relevant material was already available at the time of finalisation, unless the final order is first challenged in accordance with law.

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