By TIOL News Service

MUMBAI, NOV 11, 2016: THESE are five appeals filed against the o-in-a passed in November 2005. They were heard and decided recently.

The appellant had filed Bill s of entry for clearance of "Thinner" by declaring its value as Rs.5.28 per kg but the lower authorities enhanced the same to Rs.14 per kg and on the request of the importer appellant, the goods were assessed provisionally.

The Commissioner (A) had disposed the appeals as premature on the ground that the provisional assessments were not finalized.

The appellant importer is before the CESTAT and informs the Bench that the assessments are still provisional and not yet finalized. The AR agrees.

The Bench, therefore, observed -

"3.1 We uphold the order of the first appellate authority that the appeals are premature as the provisional assessment are not yet finalized. At the same time we find that the lower authority i.e. the adjudicating authority has been callous in not finalizing the provisional assessment which were done in the year 2006. Non-finalisation of provisional assessment from 2006 till 2016 speaks volume of the inefficiency in the assessment procedure of the department. Suffice to state that non-finalisation of provisional assessment for almost a decade is a national loss as well as for the importer assessee. We direct the adjudicating authority to finalise the provisional assessment within three months from the date of receipt of the copy of the order from the Tribunal or as served by the importer appellant."

The appeals were disposed of.

(See 2016-TIOL-2937-CESTAT-MUM)