Review power cannot reopen a concluded sales tax assessment on a debatable issue or fresh factual enquiry.

Review power under the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 is confined to correcting an error apparent from the record and requires recorded reasons. Where reassessment had accepted the dealer's claim on the materials then produced, a later attempt to reopen the matter on a different view of the same facts amounted to a fresh enquiry, which review cannot permit. A debatable issue or alternative interpretation does not constitute an apparent mistake. The review order was therefore unsustainable, and relief was granted to the assessee.

---

---

Issues: Whether the suo motu review of the reassessment order was valid in the absence of any apparent mistake on the face of the record.

Analysis: The review power under section 83 of the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 could be exercised only when there was a reviewable error apparent from the record and reasons were recorded in writing. The reassessment had accepted the dealer's claim on the materials then produced and had treated the sales as exempt. The subsequent review proposal sought to re-open the assessment on a different view of the same facts, namely, the nature of the imported goods and the character of the end-product. A review authority cannot embark on a fresh or roving enquiry to search for materials unless sufficient material already exists to disclose an apparent mistake. A debatable issue or a possible alternative view does not amount to an apparent error.

Conclusion: The review was impermissible, the impugned review order was unsustainable, and the relief stood in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Review under the sales tax law is confined to correction of an obvious mistake apparent from the record and cannot be used to reopen a concluded assessment on a debatable issue or after a fresh enquiry into facts.

---