Rectification cannot create fresh estate duty interest liability when the Act does not make such interest automatically payable.

Interest on deferred payment of estate duty could not be added by rectification where the Act did not create an automatic charge on a provisional assessment and no interest was legally leviable at the stage of the original regular assessment. The omission of such interest was therefore not a mistake apparent from the record, so the rectification power under section 61 could not be used to introduce a fresh liability. The Patna HC held the rectification order invalid and unsustainable, and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

---

---

Issues: Whether interest on deferred payment of estate duty could be added to the regular assessment by invoking rectification where the original assessment had omitted such interest, and whether the omission amounted to a mistake apparent from the record under the Act.

Analysis: The statutory scheme contemplated provisional assessment under section 57, regular assessment under section 58, and interest only where payment was postponed under section 70 on terms fixed by the Controller. The Act did not provide for automatic running of interest on a provisional assessment merely because the provisional demand was paid later. Since the original regular assessment had omitted interest in circumstances where no charge of that nature was legally leviable at that stage, the omission could not be treated as a mistake apparent from the record. The power of rectification under section 61 was therefore not available to introduce the disputed interest.

Conclusion: The rectification order was invalid and unsustainable, and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Rectification under section 61 cannot be used to create a fresh liability for interest where the Act does not provide for such interest to arise automatically and the alleged omission is not a mistake apparent from the record.

---