Rectification of supplementary assessment orders extends to section 23A orders where a mistake is apparent from the assessment record.

An order under section 23A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 is treated as part of the assessment record because it forms a supplementary assessment order within the wider assessment process, and therefore a mistake apparent from that record may be rectified under section 35(1). The analysis distinguishes the earlier limitation ruling under section 34 as inapplicable to the different language and scope of section 35(1), and notes that the parallel rectification provision in section 154(1)(a) of the 1961 Act supports the same reading. On that construction, rectification is available against an order made under section 23A.

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Issues: Whether an order passed by the Income-tax Officer under section 23A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 forms part of the assessment record so as to be rectifiable under section 35(1) of that Act.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of Chapter IV treats assessment as a comprehensive process covering computation of income, determination of tax, and allied orders made in the course of assessment. An order under section 23A, though in a narrow sense not a conventional assessment order, is a supplementary assessment order because it directs the company to pay additional super-tax on undistributed profits as part of the assessment process. Section 35(1) empowers rectification of mistakes apparent from the record of the assessment, and that expression is wide enough to include orders under section 23A. The reasoning in the earlier limitation case under section 34 was not applicable to the different context of section 35(1). The comparison with section 154(1)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 also supports the conclusion that rectification power is not confined to section 23 assessment orders alone.

Conclusion: Section 35(1) does empower the Income-tax Officer to rectify a mistake apparent from the record of an order made under section 23A; the answer is in the affirmative and against the assessee.

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