Can the Tribunal rectify a rectified order?
Under Section 254 (1) of the Income Tax Act, the Tribunal passes an order. Under Section 254 (2), the Tribunal can, on an application for Rectification Of Mistake (ROM), to rectify a mistake apparent on record, amend any Order passed under Section 254 (1). There are identical provisions in the Central Excise Act and the Customs Act. Now what happens if the Tribunal realizes that the order passed under Section 254 (2) is also wrong. Can this order be further amended? The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal felt that it had inherent powers to rectify a rectified order and it can rectify even without an application from either of the parties.
If that be so, can the re-rectified order be rectified again and if so how many times. Any way the High Court has saved the trouble of such repeated rectifications by holding that the Tribunal can rectify only an order passed under Section 254 (1) and not under Section 254 (2). Read this interesting order in our Breaking News story today.