Conclusive settlement under Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme cannot be reopened absent false declaration or a genuine clerical error.

A declaration accepted under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme is treated as conclusive under section 90(1) for the matters covered and is not open to reopening except on the ground of false declaration. A notice to amend the settlement certificate could not be sustained where it alleged only that earlier adjustments should have been considered and did not allege any false declaration. The alleged omission also required examination of disputed facts and was not a mere clerical or arithmetical error capable of summary correction. The notice was therefore without jurisdiction and could not stand.

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Issues: Whether a notice seeking to amend a certificate issued under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme could be sustained in the absence of any allegation of false declaration, and whether the alleged omission to account for earlier adjustments amounted to a clerical or arithmetical mistake open to correction.

Analysis: A declaration accepted under the Scheme culminates in a determination under section 90(1), which is stated to be conclusive as to the matters covered and not open to reopening except on the ground of false declaration. The impugned notice did not allege that the declarant had made a false declaration; it only asserted that prior adjustments ought to have been taken into account and that the calculation needed rectification. That foundation was insufficient to reopen a concluded settlement, particularly when the very information relied upon by the Department was already within its knowledge at the time of finalisation. Any claimed correction would also require investigation of disputed facts and was not the kind of obvious clerical or arithmetical error that could be corrected without debate.

Conclusion: The notice was without jurisdiction and could not stand; the assessee succeeded.

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