Provisional assessment requires finalisation before any refund claim for excess duty can be maintained.

Provisional assessment must be finalised before a refund of excess duty, or recovery of short-levied duty, can be entertained. Where goods are assessed provisionally pending test results, the assessment remains provisional for all purposes until finalisation, so any refund claim made earlier is premature and not maintainable. The claim therefore failed because the legal basis for determining excess or short levy had not yet crystallised.

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Issues: Whether a refund claim could be entertained before finalisation of a provisional assessment.

Analysis: The assessment of the goods was provisional pending test results. Refund of excess duty, or payment of short-levied duty, can arise only after the provisional assessment is finalised, since provisional assessment remains provisional for all purposes until such finalisation.

Conclusion: The refund claim was premature and not maintainable before final assessment; the appeal failed.

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