Rectification under section 254(2) cannot reopen concluded findings; only a manifest record error may be corrected.

Rectification under section 254(2) is confined to patent mistakes apparent from the record and cannot be used to reopen a concluded finding. The Tribunal had already held that the treaty amendment did not apply to contracts executed before 10 July 1985, and that order was not challenged by the Department. The subsequent rectification request merely sought to revisit that settled conclusion and disclosed no apparent error. The Tribunal was therefore justified in rejecting the application.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in rejecting the Department's rectification application under section 254(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, on the ground that no mistake apparent from the record existed.

Analysis: Rectification under section 254(2) is confined to patent mistakes apparent from the record and cannot be used to re-open a matter already concluded by a reasoned order. The earlier Tribunal order had clearly held that the amendment to the treaty would not apply to contracts executed before 10 July 1985, and that order had not been challenged by the Department. In that background, the subsequent rectification plea was only an attempt to revisit a concluded finding and did not disclose any apparent error in the record.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was in holding that there was no mistake apparent from the record and in rejecting the rectification application.

Final Conclusion: The Department's appeal failed, and the assessee's position on the rectification issue stood affirmed.

Ratio Decidendi: A rectification application cannot be entertained to re-agitate or review a concluded finding; only a manifest error apparent from the record can be corrected under section 254(2).

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