Functus officio bars recall of a concluded tribunal order absent statutory review power.

A tribunal without statutory review power becomes functus officio once it has decided the matter, so it cannot recall a concluded order under the guise of reopening proceedings. Entertaining a recall application in such circumstances would amount to an impermissible review of the earlier dismissal. The application was also unsupported by any legal basis, as the applicant had not appeared to explain the case. The recall application was therefore held not maintainable and rejected.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal could recall its earlier order dismissing the appeal and hear the matter afresh.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that entertaining the application for recall would effectively amount to a review of the earlier order, which was impermissible in law. It noted that after passing the order the Tribunal had become functus officio and had no residual power to reopen the matter. The Tribunal also found that the applicant had not appeared to explain the case and had attempted to use the application to reopen a concluded order without any legal basis.

Conclusion: The recall application was not maintainable and was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: A tribunal that has no statutory power of review becomes functus officio after deciding the matter and cannot recall its concluded order under the guise of recall or reopening proceedings.

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