Retrospective penalty amendment cannot reopen a final order by rectification absent an apparent-record error or clear statutory authority.

A retrospective amendment to a penalty provision could not be used through rectification to enhance a penalty order that had already attained finality on appeal. The Tribunal treated the effect of the amendment on concluded proceedings as a debatable issue, especially because the statute did not expressly authorise reopening notwithstanding appellate finality. It further held that an alleged enlargement of penalty liability in quasi-criminal proceedings cannot be made by rectification unless the error is apparent from the record and the statutory text clearly permits retrospective operation. Accordingly, no mistake apparent from the record was shown, and the concluded penalty order was left undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether a retrospective amendment to the penalty provision could be applied by rectification to enhance a penalty already determined in proceedings that had become final on appeal, and whether the alleged error was a mistake apparent from the record.

Analysis: The application sought to recalculate penalty under the amended provision by excluding tax paid under section 140A from the tax base. The Tribunal held that the effect of the retrospective amendment on proceedings already concluded was a debatable question, particularly in the absence of express statutory language making the amendment operative notwithstanding finality of the appellate order. It further noted that earlier reasoning treating the issue as debatable remained sound, and that an enlargement of penalty liability in quasi-criminal proceedings could not be made through rectification unless the statute clearly authorised such retrospective operation.

Conclusion: The retrospective amendment could not be invoked to rectify the concluded penalty order, and no mistake apparent from the record was shown.

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