Rectification cannot reopen a concluded appeal on a debatable point of law; only patent mistakes may be corrected.

Rectification under the Income-tax Act is confined to obvious, patent and self-evident mistakes, and cannot be used to reopen a concluded appellate decision on a debatable point of law. The Tribunal had treated the matter as an apparent error while applying section 10(4A) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, but the court held that the real subject-matter was the allowability of expenditure and that the alleged misapplication was not so plainly erroneous as to justify recall. As two views were reasonably possible, the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to set aside its earlier order under the guise of correcting a mistake apparent from the record.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to recall and quash its earlier appellate order on the ground that there was a mistake apparent from the record in applying section 10(4A) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: The challenge turned on the scope of rectification under the Income-tax Act and the distinction between an obvious mistake apparent from the record and a debatable question of law. The order under attack proceeded on the basis that the Tribunal had excluded section 10(2)(xv) and treated the matter solely under section 10(4A), but the court found that the subject-matter of the appeal was the allowability of the expenditure and that the applicability of section 10(4A) was not so plainly erroneous as to justify recall. Where two views were reasonably possible, the alleged error could not be treated as patent or self-evident, and the Tribunal could not use rectification to reopen the appeal on a contested jurisdictional premise.

Conclusion: The Tribunal had no jurisdiction to set aside its earlier order by treating the matter as one involving an error apparent on the face of the record.

Final Conclusion: The impugned rectification order was invalid, and the original appellate order was restored for further disposal according to law.

Ratio Decidendi: Rectification is confined to obvious, patent and self-evident mistakes, and a tribunal cannot reopen a concluded appellate decision on a debatable point of law under the guise of correcting an apparent error.

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