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2024 (2) TMI 664 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxRevisional jurisdiction of High Court - Clandestine Removal - cigarettes - committed error in counting the stock which resulted in noting shortage of 480 cartons - HELD THAT:- It is settled principle of law that the Tribunal is the primary body responsible for fact-finding, and when this Court exercises its revisionary authority, it does not re-examine facts already adjudicated upon by the Tribunal. The revisional jurisdiction exercised by High Courts is limited, focusing primarily on jurisdictional errors, perversity and procedural irregularities. In a revision petition, the High Court should abstain from undertaking a fresh enquiry into factual matters already adjudicated by the tribunal, unless compelling reasons necessitate an intervention of such a nature by the High Court. In VINOD KUMAR TEWARI VERSUS STATE OF U.P. AND ORS. [2015 (3) TMI 1433 - ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT], this Court outlined the difference between “appeal” and “revision” and marked the boundaries within which revisional jurisdiction is to be exercised. What becomes apparent from a reading of the aforesaid judgment is that legislature’s conferment of the right to “appeal” in one instance and the discretionary remedy of “revision” in another. This implies the creation of two distinction jurisdictions, differing in scope and content. While “appeal” typically entails a comprehensive review encompassing both law and fact initiated by an aggrieved party, “revision” is akin to a power of superintendence, sometimes invoked even without the party’s initiative. The extent of revisional jurisdiction is circumscribed by the statue conferring such authority, generally aimed to ensuring conformity to legal principles and procedural propriety. Appeal can be seen as a judicial examination seeking the reversal of a lower authority’s decision by the superior court. Meanwhile, revision empowers the superior court to scrutinize the records of an appeal to assess its legality, propriety, or regularity of procedure, and to issue orders accordingly. Revisional jurisdiction, as envisaged under the UPVAT Act, 2008, is meticulously tailored to address jurisdictional errors and excesses of law that may have permeated the adjudicative process at lower echelons of the judicial hierarchy. It is incumbent upon High Courts, when exercising revisional jurisdiction, to vigilantly scrutinize the legal landscape and ascertain whether the impugned judgment or order suffers from any infirmities of jurisdictional import or egregious deviations from the normative contours of legal propriety - Revisional jurisdiction is not conceived as a vehicle for the protracted re-examination of factual matrices, or the interminable redressal of grievances already exhaustively adjudicated upon by the lower courts or tribunals. Rather, it constitutes an instrumental mechanism for rectifying egregious legal errors or jurisdictional excesses that may have vitiated the adjudicative process, thereby ensuring the equitable and efficacious administrative of justice. The Revisionist in the instant case, has tried to invite this court to reassess the factual matrix, as adjudicated upon by the second appellate authority. Such an exercise, in absence of any perversity in the factual adjudication by the second appellate authority runs counter to the settled principles governing the exercise of revisional jurisdiction. The second appellate authority, in my opinion, has cogently addressed the nuances of this case and rendered a reasoned decision, devoid of any palpable error of infirmity - In the absence of any glaring defect or legal transgression warranting revision, it is not inclined to interfere with the impugned order dated January 25, 2023, passed by the second appellate authority. The impugned order dated January 25, 2023, does not warrant any intervention - the instant revision is dismissed.
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