Review orders of the Appellate Tribunal were not revisable before the 1972 amendment to the sales tax statute.

Under the unamended section 38(1) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, a revisional court could not entertain a challenge to an Appellate Tribunal order passed on review under section 36(6). The statutory scheme treated the original appellate order under section 36(3) and the review order under section 36(6) as distinct, and section 36(6) orders were brought within revisional scope only by the 1972 amendment. Because the impugned review order was made before that amendment took effect, revision was incompetent and not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether, under section 38(1) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 as it stood before amendment by Tamil Nadu Act No. 31 of 1972, the High Court could entertain a revision against an order passed by the Appellate Tribunal on an application for review under section 36(6).

Analysis: The statutory scheme treated an original appellate order under section 36(3) and an order on review under section 36(6) as distinct orders. Section 36(8) expressly contemplated communication of orders passed under either sub-section, and section 36(9) made finality subject to section 36(6) and section 38. The amendment to section 38(1) by Tamil Nadu Act No. 31 of 1972, which specifically added orders under section 36(6) to the revisional scope, indicated that prior to the amendment such review orders were not revisable. The order challenged in the present revision was admittedly made under section 36(6) before the amendment came into force.

Conclusion: Revision against the Tribunal's review order was not maintainable under the unamended section 38(1), and the revision petition was incompetent.

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