Delegation of revisional power under West Bengal VAT Act: delegatee's revision cannot be revised by another delegatee; earlier order quashed.

A Senior Joint Commissioner cannot revise an order made under delegated authority by a Joint Commissioner on behalf of the Commissioner; both act as delegatees deriving power from the same superior source, and absent express statutory provision one delegatee may not sit in revision over another. Allowing Section 85 revision over an order already revised under Section 86 would permit endless successive revisions; therefore the Senior Joint Commissioner's revision was unsustainable and the review application was dismissed. The High Court upheld that an order under delegated revision is, in law, deemed an order of the Commissioner and immune from further delegatee revision.

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Issues: (i) Whether an order passed under Section 86 by a Joint Commissioner exercising delegated revisional power can be subjected to further suo motu revision under Section 85 by a Senior Joint Commissioner.

Analysis: Section 86 authorises revision on application and, when exercised by a delegatee, the revisional order assumes the character of an order of the Commissioner by virtue of delegation under Section 3(4) and appointment under Section 6(1). Section 85 permits suo motu revision of specified assessments and orders passed by officers appointed under Section 6(1), but does not contemplate revision of an order that, in law, is already an order of the Commissioner rendered through delegated authority. Allowing Section 85 to be used to revise an order made under Section 86 would permit repetitive re-revision by delegatees of the same superior source, producing an impermissible circularity. Statutory remedies for infirmity in a Section 86 order are confined to prescribed rectification or appellate/revisional forum under Section 87.

Conclusion: It is concluded that an order passed under Section 86 by a Joint Commissioner acting as a delegatee of the Commissioner cannot be subjected to further revision under Section 85 by a Senior Joint Commissioner; Section 85 does not authorise revision of an order that is in law deemed to be an order of the Commissioner.

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