Rectification cannot reopen settled facts where firm's licence status was not shown on the record.
Rectification under the Gold (Control) Act, 1968 was confined to correcting an obvious error apparent on the record and could not be used to reopen a concluded factual finding on whether a firm existed as the licence-holding entity. On the recorded facts, the licence stood only in the names of two individuals, not in the firm's name, so the alleged mistake did not qualify for rectification. For the same reason, the proposed reference raised no referable question of law, because the controversy was factual and had already been resolved on evidence. The rectification request and the reference request therefore both failed.
Issues: (i) Whether the rectification application disclosed any error apparent on the face of the record in the earlier appellate order concerning the existence of the firm and the validity of the penalty imposed on it. (ii) Whether any question of law arose from the appellate order so as to justify a reference.
Issue (i): Whether the rectification application disclosed any error apparent on the face of the record in the earlier appellate order concerning the existence of the firm and the validity of the penalty imposed on it.
Analysis: Rectification under Section 81-A(2) of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968 is confined to correction of an obvious mistake apparent from the record and cannot be used to reopen factual findings or introduce a new factual basis. The Tribunal found that no licence had been granted in the name of the firm and that the licence stood only in the names of two individuals. In the statutory context of Section 2(h) of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968, the existence of a firm as a licence-holding entity had to be established on the record, and the evidence supported the earlier conclusion that the firm was not the licensee at the relevant time. The alleged mistake was therefore not an apparent error warranting rectification.
Conclusion: The rectification application was rightly dismissed and the finding against the existence of the firm as a licence-holding entity stood.
Issue (ii): Whether any question of law arose from the appellate order so as to justify a reference.
Analysis: The proposed reference repeated the same factual controversy already decided against the revenue. Once it was found that the firm was not shown to be the licensee and that the licence was in the names of the individuals only, no referable question of law survived from the order. The matter turned on the application of settled legal principles to the proved facts rather than on any unsettled legal issue.
Conclusion: No question of law arose and the reference application was rejected.
Final Conclusion: The decision leaves undisturbed the earlier appellate view that the firm was not a valid licence-holding entity under the Gold (Control) Act, 1968, and both the rectification request and the reference request failed.
Ratio Decidendi: Rectification cannot be used to reopen a concluded factual finding unless an error is manifest on the record, and no referable question of law arises where the dispute is only over facts already determined on evidence.
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