Powers of Commissioner to revise orders of subordinate authorities.
25. (1) The Commissioner may, either of his own
motion or on application made by an assessee in this behalf, call for the
record of any proceeding under this Act in which an order has been passed by
any authority subordinate to him, and may make such inquiry, or cause such
enquiry to be made, and, subject to the provisions of this Act, pass such order
thereon, not being an order prejudicial to the assessee, as the Commissioner
thinks fit:
Provided that the
Commissioner shall not revise any order under this sub-section in any case—
(a) where an appeal against the order lies to
the 41[Deputy Commissioner (Appeals)] 42[or to the Commissioner (Appeals)] or to the Appellate
Tribunal, the time within which such appeal can be made has not expired or in
the case of an appeal 43[to
the Commissioner (Appeals)] or to the Appellate Tribunal the assessee has not
waived his right of appeal ;
(b) where the order is the subject of an appeal
before the 44[Deputy Commissioner (Appeals)] 43[or the Commissioner (Appeals)] or the Appellate
Tribunal ;
(c) where the
application is made by the assessee for such revision, unless—
(i) the application is accompanied by a fee of twenty-five rupees; and
(ii) the application is made within one year from the date of the order
sought to be revised or within such further period as the Commissioner may
think fit to allow on being satisfied that the assessee was prevented by
sufficient cause from making the application within that period; and
(d) where the order is sought to be revised by
the Commissioner of his own motion, if such order is made more than one year
previously.
Explanation.—For the
purposes of this sub-section,—
(a) the 44[Deputy
Commissioner (Appeals)] shall be deemed to be an authority subordinate to the
Commissioner; and
(b) an order by the Commissioner declining to
interfere shall be deemed not to be an order prejudicial to the assessee.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1), the
Commissioner may call for and examine the record of any proceeding under this
Act, and if he considers that any order passed therein by an 45[Assessing Officer] is erroneous in so far as
it is prejudicial to the interests of revenue, he may, after giving the
assessee an opportunity of being heard, and after making or causing to be made
such inquiry as he deems necessary, pass such order thereon as the
circumstances of the case justify, including an order enhancing or modifying
the assessment or cancelling it and directing a fresh assessment.
46[Explanation.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared
that, for the purposes of this sub-section,—
(a) an order passed 47[on or before or after the 1st day of June, 1988] by the
Assessing Officer shall include an order made by the 48[Joint] Commissioner in exercise of the powers or in the
performance of the functions of an Assessing Officer conferred on or assigned
to him under orders or directions issued by the Board or by the Chief
Commissioner or Director General or Commissioner authorised by the Board in
this behalf under section 120 of the Income-tax Act read with section 8 of this
Act ;
(b) “record”,
49[shall
include and shall be deemed always to have included] all records relating to
any proceeding under this Act available at the time of examination by the
Commissioner;
(c) where any order referred to in this
sub-section and passed by the Assessing Officer had been the subject matter of
any appeal 50[filed on or before or after the first day of June, 1988],
the powers of the Commissioner under this sub-section shall extend 50[and shall be deemed always to have extended] to such
matters as had not been considered and decided in such appeal.]
51[(3) No order shall be made under sub-section (2) after the expiry of
two years 52[from
the end of the financial year in which the order sought to be revised was
passed.]
Explanation.—In
computing the period of limitation for the purposes of sub-section (3), the time
taken in giving an opportunity to the assessee to be reheard under the proviso
to section 39 and any period during which any proceeding under this section is
stayed by an order or injunction of any court shall be excluded.]
53[(3A) On every application made by an assessee for revision under
sub-section (1), an order shall be passed by the Commissioner within one year
from the end of financial year in which such application is made by the
assessee for revision.
Explanation.—In
computing the period of limitation for the purposes of this sub-section, the
time taken in giving an opportunity to the assessee to be re-heard under the
proviso to section 39 and any period during which any proceeding under this
section is stayed by an order or injunction of any court shall be excluded.]
54[(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3) or
sub-section (3A), an order in revision under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)
may be passed at any time in consequence of, or to give effect to, any finding
or direction contained in an order of the Appellate Tribunal, 55a[National Tax Tribunal]
the High Court or the Supreme Court.]