Rectification for apparent error remains available despite no prior appeal or failed writ proceedings when the legal position is later settled.

A timely rectification application under Section 84 of the TNVAT Act, 2006 was held maintainable because the provision is confined to errors apparent on the face of the record and is pari materia with Section 55 of the TNGST Act, 1959. The absence of a prior statutory appeal and the earlier dismissal or withdrawal of writ proceedings did not bar the remedy, especially after the legal position had been settled in favour of the assessee. The rejection order was therefore liable to be quashed and the matter remitted for fresh consideration on merits.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner's application for rectification under Section 84 of the TNVAT Act, 2006 was maintainable and in time despite the absence of a statutory appeal and the earlier dismissal of writ proceedings, and whether the rejection of that application required interference.

Analysis: Section 84 of the TNVAT Act, 2006 is pari materia to Section 55 of the TNGST Act, 1959 and is confined to rectifying errors apparent on the face of the record. The application was filed within time. The fact that earlier writ petitions were dismissed on the ground of laches or withdrawn, and that no appeal had been filed under Section 51 of the TNVAT Act, 2006, did not bar invocation of the rectification power. Once the legal position had been settled in favour of the assessee, the rectification remedy could not be denied merely because the assessee had not pursued the appellate route earlier.

Conclusion: The rectification application was maintainable and the rejection order could not stand. The impugned order was liable to be quashed and the matter remitted for fresh consideration on merits in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A timely rectification application may be entertained for an error apparent on the face of the record even where an appeal was not filed and earlier writ proceedings failed on laches, if the statutory remedy is otherwise available and the legal position has since been settled.

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