Rectification cannot reopen a concluded tax assessment on a debatable issue, and special limitation cannot be extended.

Rectification under section 25A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act is confined to an apparent mistake in the record and must be sought within the statute's five-year period. Once the assessment has been carried through appeal and revision and those proceedings have attained finality, the concluded order cannot be reopened on the same issue through rectification. A dispute over whether a tax entry falls under section 8(2)(a) or 8(2)(b) is a merits-based controversy, not a rectifiable error. The special limitation period under section 25A is self-contained, so sections 5 and 14 of the Limitation Act do not extend time for such an application.

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Issues: Whether a rectification application under section 25A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 was maintainable after the assessment and subsequent appellate and revisional proceedings had attained finality, and whether sections 5 and 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 could be invoked to save an application filed beyond the five-year period.

Analysis: Rectification under section 25A is confined to a mistake apparent from the record and is available only within five years from the date of the order sought to be amended. Where the assessment order has already been carried through appeal and revision, and those proceedings have been dismissed, the original order is no longer independently available for rectification on the same matter. A dispute as to whether the applicable tax entry was section 8(2)(a) or section 8(2)(b) of the Act is not a rectifiable mistake but one that goes to the merits of the assessment and could only be pursued in appeal or revision. The limitation contained in section 25A is a self-contained statutory limit, and the general provisions of sections 5 and 14 of the Limitation Act do not extend the time for such an application.

Conclusion: The rectification application was not maintainable and was barred by limitation; the plea for condonation under the Limitation Act was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The revision petition failed because no jurisdiction existed to entertain rectification on the facts and the statutory time bar could not be relaxed.

Ratio Decidendi: Rectification cannot be used to reopen a concluded assessment on a debatable issue of tax liability, and a special limitation period fixed by the statute cannot be extended by invoking the general provisions of the Limitation Act unless the statute so permits.

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