Rectification orders under the sales tax Act were not appealable; revision was the only remedy, leaving the Tribunal without jurisdiction.

An order passed on a rectification petition under section 55 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 was held not to be appealable because section 31 listed the appealable orders and did not include section 55 orders. Orders outside section 31 were open only to revision under section 33, not appeal. As no appeal lay to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, that authority lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, and the Tribunal could not acquire jurisdiction through an incompetent appeal. The appeal was therefore not maintainable and the Tribunal's order was without jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether an appeal lay against an order passed under section 55 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and whether the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and the Tribunal had jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

Analysis: The order sought to be challenged was one passed on a rectification petition under section 55. Section 31 enumerated the orders from which an appeal could be filed, and section 55 was not included. Section 33 provided that orders not covered by section 31 were open only to revision and not appeal. Since no appeal lay to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner against the section 55 order, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner lacked jurisdiction to entertain it. That defect went to the root of the matter and consequently the Tribunal also could not acquire jurisdiction to hear an appeal arising from such an incompetent proceeding.

Conclusion: The appeal was not maintainable, and the Tribunal's order was without jurisdiction.

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