Revision of orders prejudicial to revenue.
191. (1) The Commissioner may, for the purposes of revising any order passed in any proceeding under this Code before any income-tax authority subordinate to him, call for, and examine, all available records relating thereto.
(2) The Commissioner may, after giving the assessee an opportunity of being heard, pass an order (hereinafter referred to as the revision order) as the circumstances of the case justify, if he is satisfied that the order sought to be revised is erroneous in so far as it is prejudicial to the interests of the revenue.
(3) The Commissioner may make, or cause to be made, such inquiry as he considers necessary for the purposes of passing an order under sub-section (2).
(4) The revision order passed by the Commissioner under sub-section (2) may have the effect of enhancing or modifying the assessment but shall not be an order cancelling the assessment and directing a fresh assessment.
(5) The power of the Commissioner under sub-section (2) for revising an order shall not extend to such order,—
(a) against which an appeal is pending before the Commissioner (Appeals);
(b) as has been considered and decided in any appeal; or
(c) as has been considered by, and passed in pursuance of the directions of, the Dispute Resolution Panel.
(6) No order under sub-section (2) shall be made after the expiry of a period of two years from the end of the financial year in which the order sought to be revised was passed.
(7) In computing the period of limitation under sub-section (6), the following shall not be included, namely:—
(a) the time taken in giving an opportunity to the assessee to be reheard under section 133; or
(b) any period during which any proceeding under this section is stayed by an order, or injunction, of any court.
(8) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, an order passed by an income-tax authority shall be deemed to be erroneous in so far as it is prejudicial to the interests of the revenue, if—
(a) the order is passed without making inquiries or verification which, in the opinion of the Commissioner, should have been made;
(b) the order is passed allowing any relief without probing into the claim;
(c) the order has not been made in accordance with any order, direction or instruction issued by the Board under section 129;
(d) the order has not been passed in accordance with any decision, prejudicial to the assessee, rendered by—
(i) the Appellate Tribunal, High Court or Supreme Court in the case of the assessee or any other person under this Code, the Income-tax Act, 1961, or the
Wealth-tax Act, 1957, as stood before the commencement of this Code; or
(ii) a court under any other law; or
(e) the order has been made following the order of a jurisdictional High Court but a special leave petition has been granted by the Supreme Court against the said decision of the High Court subsequent to the passing of the order.
(9) An order passed by an income-tax authority shall not be considered to be erroneous
in so far as it is prejudicial to the interests of the revenue, if—
(a) the order has been made by holding a view sustainable in law; and
(b) the Commissioner is not in agreement due to the existence of another view sustainable in law.
(10) In this section, "record" shall include all records relating to any proceeding under this Code available at the time of examination by the Commissioner.
