Revisional power under sales tax law extends to Assistant Commissioner appellate orders, even where a further appeal may lie.

Section 57(1) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 was construed to permit suo motu revision of an appellate order passed by an Assistant Commissioner under section 55(1)(a). The decisive factor was the officer's statutory status as one appointed under section 20 to assist the Commissioner, not the appellate capacity in which the order was made. The pendency or availability of a further appeal under section 55(2) did not exclude revisional jurisdiction, because the Assistant Commissioner's appellate order remained capable of revision unless displaced in the manner provided by the Act. The Commissioner's revisional power therefore extended to such appellate orders.

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Issues: Whether the Commissioner could exercise suo motu revisional power under section 57(1) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, to revise an appellate order passed by the Assistant Commissioner under section 55(1)(a).

Analysis: The expression in section 57(1), namely, an order passed by an officer appointed under section 20 to assist the Commissioner, was held to describe the nature of the officer whose order is revisable and not the capacity in which he acted in a particular case. An Assistant Commissioner is expressly appointed under section 20(2) to assist the Commissioner, and the fact that he hears appeals under section 55(1)(a) does not change the character of his appointment. The existence of a further appeal under section 55(2) and the pendency of such appeal before the Tribunal did not exclude the Commissioner's revisional power, because the appellate order of the Assistant Commissioner remained an order capable of revision unless displaced in the manner provided by the Act.

Conclusion: The Commissioner was entitled to revise suo motu the appellate order passed by the Assistant Commissioner. The answer to the referred question was in the affirmative, in favour of the Revenue.

Final Conclusion: The revisional power under section 57(1) extends to appellate orders of an Assistant Commissioner appointed under section 20(2), notwithstanding that the order was made in exercise of appellate jurisdiction and even where a further appeal may lie.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of section 57(1), the decisive factor is the statutory status of the officer as one appointed under section 20 to assist the Commissioner, not the particular function being performed when the order was made.

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