Provisional assessment orders are appealable, and no prior show cause notice is needed, but reasons for invoking them must be stated.

A provisional assessment under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 is appealable under Section 35 because it remains an assessment order passed by a lower-ranking officer. It is only an interim arrangement based on prima facie material, so a pre-decisional show cause notice is not mandatory before making the provisional assessment. However, the order must disclose the specific reasons for resorting to provisional assessment, particularly when initiated on the officer's own motion; failure to do so makes the order defective. Natural justice requires notice before finalisation, not necessarily before provisional assessment.

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Issues: (i) Whether an order of provisional assessment under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 is appealable under Section 35 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. (ii) Whether a provisional assessment order must be preceded by a show cause notice and must disclose precise reasons for resorting to provisional assessment.

Issue (i): Whether an order of provisional assessment under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 is appealable under Section 35 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Analysis: Rule 9B authorises provisional assessment where the proper officer considers further documents, tests, or enquiries necessary. An order made under that rule is still an order of assessment passed by an officer lower in rank than the Collector. Section 35 permits appeals against any decision or order passed under the Act by such an officer. A provisional assessment order therefore falls within the appellate provision.

Conclusion: The appeal against the provisional assessment order was maintainable.

Issue (ii): Whether a provisional assessment order must be preceded by a show cause notice and must disclose precise reasons for resorting to provisional assessment.

Analysis: Provisional assessment is only an interim arrangement based on prima facie considerations and does not finally determine liability. For that reason, a show cause notice is not mandatory at the stage of making a provisional assessment, and the order cannot be attacked on merits as if it were a final adjudication. However, the order should state the specific reasons for invoking provisional assessment, especially when it is made on the officer's own motion. Where those reasons are not disclosed, the order is defective. Principles of natural justice require a show cause notice before finalisation of assessment, not necessarily before provisional assessment itself.

Conclusion: A show cause notice was not required before provisional assessment, but the impugned order was defective for failure to state precise reasons, and directions for expeditious finalisation were upheld with a further direction to supply those reasons.

Final Conclusion: The Tribunal upheld the appealability of provisional assessment orders, rejected the contention that a show cause notice was mandatory at that stage, and interfered to the limited extent of directing disclosure of reasons and prompt finalisation of the provisional assessments.

Ratio Decidendi: A provisional assessment order under Rule 9B is an appealable order under Section 35, but it is an interim assessment step that does not require a pre-decisional show cause notice or merit-based adjudication; it must, however, disclose the reasons for invoking provisional assessment.

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