Provisional assessment does not protect a double-duty refund claim; Section 11B limitation runs from duty payment when assessment was not provisional.

Rule 9B provisional assessment applies only where duty is assessed provisionally for valuation or classification; a refund claim for duty paid twice on motor vehicles returned for repair did not fall within that scheme because the dispute arose from a software error, not provisional assessment. The vehicles had been received for repair under Rule 173H, but that did not convert the payment into provisional assessment. As no provisional assessment existed, Section 11B limitation applied from the date of duty payment, and a refund application filed beyond six months was time-barred.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim for duty paid twice on motor vehicles returned for repair was governed by provisional assessment under Rule 9B of the Central Excise Rules and, if not, whether the claim was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act.

Analysis: Rule 9B permits provisional assessment only for determination of valuation or classification. The dispute did not concern valuation or classification; the claim was that duty had been paid twice because of a software error after the vehicles were repaired and cleared again. The goods had been received under Rule 173H for repair, but that circumstance did not convert the payment into a provisional assessment. Since the duty was paid between 15-4-91 and 13-3-92 and the refund application was filed on 21-5-93, the application was beyond the six-month period prescribed by Section 11B, the relevant date being the date of payment of duty in such a case.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not protected by provisional assessment and was time-barred under Section 11B; the finding was against the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The appellate challenge failed because the refund was not maintainable within the statutory limitation period.

Ratio Decidendi: A refund claim arising from excess duty paid twice on the same goods is not treated as one arising from provisional assessment unless the assessment itself was provisional for valuation or classification, and in the absence of such provisional assessment the limitation under Section 11B applies from the date of payment of duty.

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