Functus officio bars belated addendum from creating a fresh duty demand after final adjudication.

An adjudicating authority becomes functus officio after passing a final order and cannot later introduce or confirm a fresh duty demand by addendum unless the correction is limited to a clerical mistake or an error apparent on the record. Here, the original adjudication granted relief on cement oxide colour and contained no duty demand on that product; the later addendum sought to create a new liability after a substantial delay. As no statutory authority for such an addendum was shown, the demand was held unauthorised and set aside in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the Collector could, by a later addendum, confirm a duty demand on cement oxide colour after the original adjudication order had omitted any such demand.

Analysis: The original adjudication order granted relief in respect of cement oxide colour and did not confirm any duty demand on that product. The later addendum was issued after a substantial lapse of time and purported to introduce a fresh demand. Once the adjudicating authority had disposed of the matter, it became functus officio and could not add to or modify the order except to correct a clerical mistake or an error apparent on the record. No statutory provision authorising such an addendum was shown.

Conclusion: The addendum confirming the duty demand was held to be without legal authority and was set aside, in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: A duty demand cannot be introduced by way of a belated addendum to an adjudication order once the authority has exhausted its jurisdiction, except for limited correction of clerical or apparent errors.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudicating authority becomes functus officio after passing its order and cannot subsequently create or confirm a new liability by addendum unless the correction falls within the narrow scope of clerical or apparent-error rectification.

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