Suo Motu Revisional Power can be invoked by an assessee to correct illegality, even where the assessment order is appealable.

Section 35 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act confers a wide suo motu revisional power on the Deputy Commissioner, and that power is not confined to the Revenue. An assessee may bring an error, illegality or impropriety in a subordinate order to the Deputy Commissioner's notice and request revision, even where the assessment order is appealable. The existence of a separate revision mechanism under section 36 for non-appealable orders does not curtail section 35 or make it unavailable to the assessee. The statutory wording and the hearing safeguard before any adverse order support this broader construction.

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Issues: Whether an assessee can invoke the Deputy Commissioner's suo motu revisional power under section 35 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, even where the assessment order is appealable and section 36 provides a separate revision on application only for non-appealable orders.

Analysis: The statutory scheme distinguished between revision on application under section 36 and suo motu revision under section 35. Section 35 was held to confer a wide power, not confined to the benefit of the Revenue, and capable of being exercised for the benefit of the assessee as well. The Court relied on the wording of the provision, especially the authority to call for and examine any subordinate order and to pass such order as the Deputy Commissioner thinks fit, together with the safeguard in sub-section (3) requiring hearing before an adverse order. The fact that the assessment order was appealable did not curtail the wider suo motu power under section 35. An assessee was therefore entitled to bring an error, illegality or impropriety to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner and request exercise of that power. The contrary view would render section 35 unduly narrow and would make section 36 exhaust the revisional scheme, which was not the legislative intent.

Conclusion: An assessee can set the suo motu revisional jurisdiction of the Deputy Commissioner in motion under section 35, and the existence of an appealable assessment or the non-availability of section 36 does not bar such exercise. The impugned refusal to entertain the revision was unlawful and the assessee succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory suo motu revisional power framed in wide terms may be invoked at the instance of an assessee to correct illegality or impropriety in a subordinate order, even if the order is otherwise appealable, unless the statute expressly excludes such invocation.

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