Rectified assessment as fresh assessment remains open to revision when it substantively re-determines liability after appellate merger.

A rectified order passed under section 55 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, after the original assessment had been confirmed on appeal, was treated as a fresh assessment in substance because it involved re-examination of the facts and law. The earlier assessment had merged in the appellate order, so the assessing authority could not merely revive or amend it as a separate order. On that footing, the later order attracted the normal incidents of assessment, including revisional scrutiny under section 32. The claimed immunity of a section 55 rectification order from revision was rejected because it would otherwise exclude erroneous revenue orders from any statutory remedy.

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Issues: Whether a rectified assessment order passed by the assessing authority under section 55 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, after an appellate order had confirmed the original assessment, was in substance an assessment order revisable under section 32 of the Act.

Analysis: An order of assessment confirmed on appeal loses its separate existence and merges in the appellate order, so the original assessing authority cannot thereafter amend it. Where the assessing authority later passes an order under section 55 after re-examining the facts and law, the resulting order is not a mere mechanical correction but a fresh assessment in substance. Such an order attracts the normal incidents of assessment under section 12, including revisional scrutiny under section 32. The argument that a rectification order under section 55 enjoys special immunity from revision was rejected, as accepting it would leave erroneous orders affecting revenue without any departmental remedy under the statutory scheme.

Conclusion: The rectified order under section 55 was revisable under section 32, and the Deputy Commissioner acted within jurisdiction in restoring the original assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: A rectification order that substantively results in a fresh assessment is treated as an assessment order for the purposes of revision, and once the original assessment has merged in the appellate order, the later rectified order remains open to revisional jurisdiction under the Act.

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