Revisional jurisdiction over rectification orders under Karnataka sales tax law upheld where assessment was reduced and refund granted.

Section 21(2) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act empowered the Deputy Commissioner to call for and examine an order passed by a subordinate officer and revise it as he thought fit. A rectification order made under the rules, which altered the assessment, reduced tax liability, and resulted in a refund, was treated as an order in relation to the assessment and therefore within revisional jurisdiction. The Court held that the power was not excluded merely because the rectification order was also prejudicial to revenue, and the revisional challenge failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the Deputy Commissioner had revisional jurisdiction under section 21(2) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 to revise a rectification order passed under the rules when the rectification reduced the assessment and granted refund.

Analysis: Section 21(2) empowered the Deputy Commissioner to call for and examine any order or proceeding passed under the Act by a subordinate Commercial Tax Officer and to pass such order as he thought fit. The rectification order under rule 38 altered the original assessment, reduced the tax liability, and resulted in refund. It was therefore an order in relation to the assessment. The Court held that section 21(2) was not excluded merely because the order might also be prejudicial to revenue, and it was unnecessary to decide the wider question whether every order under the Act fell within section 21(2).

Conclusion: The Deputy Commissioner had jurisdiction to revise the rectification order, and the challenge to the revisional proceedings failed.

---