Rule 109. General power to amend

Chapter XIII · Disposal of cases and pronouncement of orders

109.1 The rule

The Appellate Tribunal may, within a period of thirty days from the date of completion of pleadings, and on such terms as to costs or otherwise, as it may think fit, amend any defect or error in any proceeding before it; and all necessary amendments shall be made for the purpose of determining the real question or issue raised by or depending on such proceeding.

109.2 What it does

Rule 109 is the Tribunal's curative power over the parties' own papers: it lets the Bench put right a defect or error anywhere in a proceeding so that the case is decided on its real question rather than on a slip in the drafting. It is the GSTAT analogue of s.153 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, with one decisive difference — s.153 operates "at any time", r.109 operates only within thirty days from the date of completion of pleadings.