Provisional assessment must be finalised before bond enforcement under project import rules; premature recovery is not permitted.

Under the Project Import Regulations, 1986, the proper officer must first finalise the provisional assessment before proceeding against the bond furnished by the importer. The text states that enforcement of the bond for duty recovery was premature where the assessment had not been finalised, even if full reconciliation statements or other documents were still pending. The statutory sequence requires assessment finalisation first, and only then can recovery action follow if duty remains payable. The impugned order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded for fresh action in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the bond furnished in respect of project import could be enforced before finalising the provisional assessment.

Analysis: Regulation 7 of the Project Import Regulations, 1986 requires the importer to submit the prescribed documents and enables the proper officer to finalise the contract assessment on the basis of the material available. The assessment in the present case remained provisional, and the enforcement of the bond was undertaken without first completing finalisation of the assessment. The absence of full reconciliation statements or other documents did not justify bypassing the statutory sequence of first finalising the assessment and thereafter proceeding against the bond, if duty remained payable.

Conclusion: The bond could not be enforced before finalisation of the provisional assessment, and the enforcement was premature. The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh action in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A bond given under the project import regime cannot be enforced for duty recovery until the provisional assessment has first been finalised.

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