Provisional assessment and show cause notices under Section 11A arise only after the relevant date for duty adjustment.

In provisional assessment cases, a show cause notice under Section 11A can be issued only after the relevant date has arisen, namely the date of adjustment of duty after final assessment. The text states that if that date has not yet arrived, the power to issue the notice has not crystallised and the notice is prima facie premature. It also notes that, at that stage, objections based on the nature of the material supporting the notice or on alleged prior finalisation of some assessments were not accepted. The interim restraint on further proceedings was therefore justified.

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Issues: Whether a show cause notice under Section 11A could be issued before the "relevant date" had arisen in a case of provisional assessment.

Analysis: Section 11A empowers the officer to issue a show cause notice only within the prescribed time from the relevant date. Where duty has been provisionally assessed, the relevant date is the date of adjustment of duty after final assessment. On the material before the Court, there was prima facie substance in the contention that the relevant date had not yet arrived, so the power to issue the notice had not crystallised. The Court also declined to accept, at that stage, the challenges based on the nature of the material underlying the notice or the suggestion that some assessments had already been finalised.

Conclusion: The show cause notice was prima facie premature and the restraint against further proceedings was justified.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the interim protection granted by the learned single judge was left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: In cases of provisional assessment, the power to issue a show cause notice under Section 11A arises only after the relevant date, namely the date of adjustment of duty after final assessment, has arrived.

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