Statutory bar on revision where the same issue is pending before the appellate tribunal defeats revisional jurisdiction.

Section 20(2A) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act bars revision on any issue that is already the subject-matter of an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal, or has been decided by it. That statutory limitation applies even where the pending appeal concerns a different assessment year. Because the revisional authority failed to address the objection that the same controversy was already pending before the Tribunal, it acted in breach of the express bar and without jurisdiction. The revisional order was therefore unsustainable and was quashed, and the writ petition was allowed.

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Issues: Whether the revisional authority could exercise power under section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 when the very issue was already the subject-matter of a pending appeal before the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Analysis: Section 20(2A) places an express bar on the exercise of revisional power in respect of any issue or question that is the subject-matter of an appeal before, or has been decided on appeal by, the Appellate Tribunal. The objection that the same controversy was pending before the Tribunal was raised before the revisional authority, but was not dealt with. The authoritative construction of section 20(2A) had already settled that the bar operates even where the pending appeal relates to a different assessment year, and the revisional authority could not ignore that limitation. The revisional order was therefore passed in breach of the statutory bar and without jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The revisional order was held to be unsustainable and was quashed. The writ petition was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: When a statutory provision expressly bars revision on an issue that is already pending before the appellate tribunal, the revisional authority lacks jurisdiction to decide that issue, irrespective of the assessment year involved.

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