Provisional assessment refund limitation starts only on finalisation, so a premature claim is not time-barred.

Refund claims arising from excess duty paid under provisional assessment are not barred by limitation when filed before finalisation of assessment. The governing principle is that, despite the amended Section 11B not expressly referring to provisional assessment, Rule 9B(5) makes entitlement to refund dependent on the outcome of final assessment. A claim made before finalisation is premature because excess duty cannot be said to have accrued until the provisional assessment is completed. The limitation period therefore begins only from finalisation of the provisional assessment, not from the date of payment of duty, and the refund claim was treated as within time.

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Issues: Whether a refund claim arising from excess duty paid under provisional assessment was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 when the claim was filed before finalisation of assessment.

Analysis: The duty had been paid twice on the same goods and the assessments were admittedly provisional. Though the amended Section 11B omitted the earlier express reference to provisional assessment, Rule 9B(5) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 makes refund or demand dependent on the result of final assessment. A refund claim filed before finalisation is premature because the assessee cannot know whether any excess duty has actually accrued until the provisional assessment is completed. In such a case, treating the date of payment of duty as the starting point for limitation would produce an anomalous result and defeat the scheme of provisional assessment.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not time-barred; limitation commenced only on finalisation of the provisional assessment, and the appeal was allowed with consequential relief.

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