Rectification of apparent legal error under sales tax law cannot be denied merely because the appeal was already disposed of.

Section 21-A of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 was construed as a broad rectification power enabling the Tribunal to correct a mistake apparent from the record on its own motion or when pointed out by an affected party. The fact that the appeals had already been disposed of did not remove that jurisdiction, because the provision was directed to correcting an obvious legal error rather than reopening the entire appeal. The Tribunal's refusal on the footing that it had no power to rehear the appeals was therefore based on an erroneous understanding of the provision, and the High Court granted relief to the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the Sales Tax Tribunal had jurisdiction under section 21-A of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 to rectify a mistake apparent from the record in appeals already disposed of, and whether the Tribunal could refuse relief on the ground that it had no power to rehear the appeals.

Analysis: Section 21-A is widely worded and empowers the Tribunal to rectify a mistake apparent from the record either on its own motion or when the mistake is brought to its notice by the person affected. The provision is meant to correct an obvious error of law on the record and is not confined to cases where an application in a particular form is filed. The fact that the appeals had already been disposed of did not deprive the Tribunal of the statutory power to correct the mistake. The refusal was based on an erroneous view that the Tribunal lacked power to rehear the appeals, whereas the real question was only rectification of an apparent legal mistake.

Conclusion: The Tribunal had jurisdiction under section 21-A to rectify the mistake apparent from the record, and its contrary view was unsustainable. Relief was therefore granted to the assessee in the writ petition.

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