Rectification remedy under sales tax law supports revisional challenge; rejection for no appeal against assessment was unsustainable.

A rectification remedy under Section 55 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 was available before the Assessing Officer, and a revision lay against the order passed on that application. The assessee had sought correction of turnover and the consequential levy, so the revision petitions could not be rejected merely because no appeal had been filed against the original assessment orders. The refusal to entertain the revisions was therefore unsustainable, and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration on merits after hearing the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the revision petitions filed by the assessee against the order passed under Section 55 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 were maintainable and whether the matter required reconsideration on merits.

Analysis: The order under challenge treated the revision petitions as not maintainable on the ground that the assessee had not filed appeals against the original assessment orders. The Court held that Section 55 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 provided a remedy for rectification before the Assessing Officer, and the assessee had in fact invoked that remedy by seeking correction of the turnover and consequential levy. Since a revision lay against the order passed under Section 55, the assessee was entitled to challenge that order by way of revision. The rejection of the revision petitions as not maintainable was therefore erroneous, and the subsequent order affirming that view also could not stand.

Conclusion: The revision petitions were maintainable; the impugned orders were set aside and the matters were remanded for fresh decision on merits after hearing the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute provides a rectification remedy and a revision lies against the order passed thereon, rejection of the revision on the ground that no appeal was filed against the original assessment is unsustainable.

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