Provisional assessment refund follows finalisation; defective protest proof does not defeat substantive entitlement to refund.

Where duty is paid under provisional assessment, refund follows as a consequence of finalisation of that assessment, and a separate refund application is not the governing requirement. The protest letter is relevant only to show that the claim is not barred by limitation; defects in proof of protest or internal clerical discrepancies do not defeat the substantive entitlement once the refund is otherwise payable. On that basis, denial of refund on the ground that the protest evidence was defective or the claim was premature was unsustainable, and refund was due on finalisation of the provisional assessment.

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Issues: Whether refund arising on finalisation of a provisional assessment could be denied on the ground that the protest evidence was defective or that the refund claim was premature.

Analysis: The assessment remained provisional until the classification list was finally approved, and the refund claim was in substance referable to that finalisation. In such a situation, a separate refund application was not the governing requirement; the refund ought to have followed suo motu on finalisation under the provisional assessment scheme. The protest letter served only to show that the claim was not barred by limitation. Once the refund was otherwise payable on finalisation, defects in proof of protest or internal clerical discrepancies did not defeat the substantive entitlement.

Conclusion: The denial of refund was unsustainable, and the assessee was entitled to the refund.

Ratio Decidendi: Where duty has been paid under provisional assessment, refund becomes consequential on finalisation of that assessment, and proof of protest is relevant only to limitation, not to the substantive right to refund.

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