Rectification for mistake apparent from the record extends to an obvious failure to apply the correct rebate provision.

A failure by the Income-tax Officer to apply the relevant Finance Act provisions governing super-tax rebate to the assessment record was treated as a mistake apparent from the record and therefore capable of rectification under section 35. The challenge that the issue was debatable was rejected because the provision relied on for comparison was materially different, and no material outside the record was needed to identify the error. The article explains that an obvious omission to apply the correct statutory rule, where no genuine question of law is shown, falls within rectification powers and supports withdrawal of an excess rebate wrongly allowed.

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Issues: Whether the Income-tax Officer could invoke section 35 to rectify the assessment by withdrawing excess super-tax rebate on the ground that the rebate had been wrongly allowed under the relevant Finance Acts, and whether such omission constituted a mistake apparent from the record.

Analysis: The record showed that the Income-tax Officer had failed to give effect to the relevant provisions governing the super-tax rebate under the Finance Acts of 1958 and 1959. The challenge based on alleged invalidity of those provisions was rejected because the provision relied upon from the Finance Act, 1951, was materially different and no real comparison could be drawn. The existence of a debatable question was not established, and nothing suggested that the rectification depended on material outside the record. The omission to apply the relevant provisions was therefore an obvious error fit for rectification under section 35.

Conclusion: The rectification was valid and the objection failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A failure to apply the relevant statutory provision to the assessment record, where the error is obvious and not a debatable point of law, constitutes a mistake apparent from the record and can be corrected in rectification proceedings.

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