Rectification cannot reopen a final ITAT merits decision merely because later precedent takes a different view.

Rectification cannot be used to reopen a final ITAT order that decided the claim on merits and was not further challenged. The Tribunal had already ruled on entitlement to investment allowance for extraction-related plant and machinery, so the issue had attained finality. A later precedent does not, by itself, create a mistake apparent from the record, and a concluded decision cannot be revisited on that basis. The cited circular also did not change the position on the facts. The request to reopen the settled order by rectification was therefore rejected.

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Issues: Whether a final order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, which had decided the claim on merits and attained finality, could be reopened by way of rectification on the basis of a subsequent precedent and the cited circular.

Analysis: The dispute had already been adjudicated on merits by the Tribunal, including the entitlement to investment allowance for extraction-related plant and machinery, and that decision had not been challenged further. A rectification power is confined to correction of a mistake apparent from the record and cannot be used to revisit a concluded decision merely because a later precedent has taken a different view. Permitting such reopening would undermine finality and keep settled disputes perpetually alive. The cited circular did not alter this position in the facts of the case.

Conclusion: The request to reopen the concluded Tribunal order by rectification was rejected, and the challenge to the Tribunal's orders failed.

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