Functus officio for tribunal majority orders bars rehearing after signing and release; ministerial lapse cannot reopen the matter.

Under section 57(3) of the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003, a majority decision of a Tribunal becomes the operative decision once the majority Members have heard the matter, recorded reasons, signed the order and directed its release. A failure in ministerial communication cannot invalidate that signed order or justify constituting a fresh Bench to rehear the appeal. After signing and release for communication, the Tribunal became functus officio and had no administrative power to recall, reopen or alter the concluded decision. The Punjab and Haryana High Court therefore treated the later rehearing as without jurisdiction and reaffirmed that estoppel cannot cure an order passed without authority.

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Issues: Whether the Chairman of the Tribunal was justified in constituting a fresh Bench and rehearing the appeal after a majority order had already been signed by two Members of the earlier Bench.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under section 57(3) of the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003 recognises the decision of the majority where Members of a Bench differ. Once the majority Members had heard the matter, recorded reasons, signed the order, and directed it to be released, the order became the operative decision of the Tribunal. Communication of the signed order was only a ministerial step and any lapse by the ministerial staff in communicating it could not render the order ineffective or permit a reconstitution of the Bench. After signing the order, the Tribunal had become functus officio, and the matter could not be reheard or recalled administratively. The principle of estoppel could not validate a subsequent order passed without jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The fresh Bench was not justified in rehearing the appeal, and the subsequent order dated 31 May 2012 was without jurisdiction. The question of law was answered in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The earlier majority order remained operative, and the Tribunal could not administratively set it aside or reopen the matter by constituting a new Bench.

Ratio Decidendi: A quasi-judicial tribunal becomes functus officio once its majority order is signed and released for communication, and a later failure in ministerial communication does not authorise a fresh Bench to rehear or alter that concluded decision.

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