Binding precedent on edible oil classification left no revisable question of law under sales tax revision

Under section 23 of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957, revisional interference is confined to cases where the Tribunal has failed to decide or has wrongly decided a question of law. The Tribunal classified solvent rice bran oil, solvent sunflower oil and de-oiled rice bran as edible oil by applying binding High Court precedent on an identical issue. Because a Tribunal must follow the law declared by the superior court, its reliance on final precedent did not create any legal error or independent question of law. Revisional interference was therefore unwarranted and the challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether a revisional court could interfere with the Tribunal's classification of solvent rice bran oil, solvent sunflower oil and de-oiled rice bran as edible oil, and whether any question of law arose when the Tribunal had followed binding precedent.

Analysis: Under section 23 of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957, revision lies only where the Tribunal has failed to decide or has erroneously decided a question of law. The Tribunal had treated the goods as edible oil by relying on an earlier decision of the same High Court, which had already attained finality. A Tribunal is expected to follow the law declared by the superior court, and its doing so does not amount to failure to decide, nor to erroneous decision on a question of law. On these facts, the controversy was covered by the earlier binding decision and did not present any independent question of law for revisional interference.

Conclusion: No revisable question of law arose, and interference with the Tribunal's order was not warranted.

Final Conclusion: The revisional challenge failed because the Tribunal had merely applied binding High Court precedent, leaving no legal error for correction in revision.

Ratio Decidendi: When a Tribunal follows a binding decision of the superior court on an identical issue, no question of law arises for revision under section 23 of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957.

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