18-A. Revision by High Court in certain cases.-
(1) Within sixty days from the date on which an order under Section 17 of the Act was communicated to him, the appellant or the respondent may prefer a petition to the High Court against the order on the ground that the Appellate Tribunal has either failed to decide or decided erroneously any question of law:
Provided that the High Court may admit the petition preferred after the period of sixty days aforesaid, if it is satisfied that the petitioner has sufficient cause for not preferring the petition within that period.
(2) The petition shall be in the prescribed form and shall, when it is preferred by any person other than the State Government, be accompanied by a fee of fifty rupees.
(3) If the High Court, on persuing the petition, considers that there is no sufficient ground for interfering, it may dismiss the petition summarily:
Provided that no petition shall be dismissed unless the petitioner has had a reasonable opportunity of being heard in support thereof.
(4) (a) If the High Court does not dismiss the petition summarily, it shall, after giving both the parties to the petition a reasonable opportunity of being heard, determine the question of questions of law raised and either reverse, affirm or amend the order against which the petition was preferred or remit the matter to the Appellate Tribunal with the opinion of the High Court on the question or questions of law raised or pass such other order in relation to the matter as the High Court thinks fit.
(b) Where the High Court remits the matter to the Appellate Tribunal under clause(a) with its opinion on the questions of law raised, the latter shall amend the order passed by it, in conformity with such opinion.
(5) Before passing an order sub-section (4), the High Court may, if it considers necessary so to do, remit the petition to the Appellate Tribunal and direct it to return the petition with its finding on any specific question or issue.
(6) Notwithstanding that a petition has been preferred under sub-section (1), the tax shall be paid in accordance with the assessment made in the case:
Provided that if as a result of the petition, any change becomes necessary in such assessment, the High Court may authorise the assessing authority to amend the assessment and the assessing authority shall amend the assessment accordingly and thereupon the amount paid in excess by the assessee shall be refunded to him without interest or the additional amount of tax due from him shall be collected in accordance with the provisions of the Act, as the case may be.
(7) (a) The High Court may, on the application of either party to the petition, review any order passed by it under sub-section (4) on the basis of facts which were not before it when it passed the order.
(b) The application for review shall be preferred within ninety days from the date of communication of the order sought to be reviewed and shall be in such form and such manner as may be prescribed, and shall, where it is preferred by any person other than the State Government shall be accompanied by a fee of fifty rupees.
(8) With a view to rectifying any mistake apparent from the record, the High Court may, at any time within five years from the date of the order passed by it, amend such order:
Provided that no order under this sub-section shall be made without giving the parties affected a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
(9) In respect of every petition preferred under this section, the costs shall be in the discretion of the High Court.