Sethia Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of Rajasthan & Commercial Taxes Officer – Rajasthan High Court Permits Correction of Clerical Errors in Earlier VAT Judgment by Replacing Incorrect Figures and Substituting "GST" with "VAT" | Rajasthan VAT Act | D.B. Writ Misc. Application Nos. 268/2022 & 271/2022

Facts of the Case

The petitioner, Sethia Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd., filed Miscellaneous Applications before the Rajasthan High Court seeking correction of certain inadvertent errors in the Court's earlier common order dated 06.07.2022 passed in D.B. Civil Writ Petition Nos. 4494/2020 and 4500/2020. The petitioner pointed out that paragraph 2 of the earlier order contained incorrect assessment figures and that the term "GST" had been mistakenly used instead of "VAT".

Issues Involved

1. Whether the Rajasthan High Court could correct clerical and typographical mistakes appearing in its earlier judgment.
2. Whether the assessment amounts mentioned in the earlier order required rectification.
3. Whether the expression "GST" should be substituted with "VAT" to accurately reflect the subject matter of the original proceedings.

Petitioner’s Arguments

• The petitioner submitted that the figures relating to the assessment years and corresponding quarters mentioned in paragraph 2 of the order dated 06.07.2022 were incorrectly recorded.
• It was further argued that the use of the word "GST" in paragraphs 2 and 3 was an inadvertent error because the litigation related to VAT and not GST.
• Therefore, appropriate corrections were sought to ensure that the judicial record accurately reflected the facts