Revisional powers under Section 108: when the Commissioner reopens
A separate power, with separate limits, exercised on orders that nobody appealed.
Section 108 permits the Revisional Authority, on its own motion or on information, to call for and examine the record of any proceeding and, if it considers that a decision or order passed by a subordinate officer is erroneous insofar as it is prejudicial to the interest of revenue, illegal, improper, or has not taken into account certain material facts, to stay the operation of the order and pass such order as it thinks just and proper, after giving an opportunity of being heard. The power is subject to conditions, including bars where the order is the subject of an appeal or where the specified periods have expired.
The conditions and the bars
The order must be one passed by a subordinate officer. The Revisional Authority is notified for this purpose.
The power cannot be exercised where the order has been the subject of an appeal under Sections 107, 112, 117 or 118, or where the period for filing an appeal has not expired, or where more than three years have expired from the date of the order, subject to the specific provisions.
A hearing is mandatory before an adverse revisional order.
The power is confined to orders prejudicial to revenue, illegal or improper, or passed without considering material facts. It is not a general power to take a different view.
How to resist a revision
Test the bars first. Whether the order was appealed, whether the appeal period had expired, and whether the three year period has run. These are jurisdictional.
Then test the ground. A revision that simply prefers a different view, without identifying an illegality, an impropriety or a material fact not considered, is outside the power.
Then insist on the hearing and on reasons. A revisional order that does not deal with your submissions is challengeable on the same footing as any adjudication order.
An order passed in revision is appealable, and the appeal route depends on the authority that passed it. Check it before filing.
The practical picture
Revisions are used where a favourable adjudication order was not appealed within the Section 107(2) window, and the department discovers the issue later, and where an order is internally regarded as unsustainable.
For the taxpayer this means a favourable order that has survived the review window is still not entirely closed for three years, and the file should be preserved accordingly.
It also means that the quality of the adjudication order matters to you. A reasoned order in your favour is far harder to revise than a cryptic one.
What to do on Monday
Preserve the adjudication file for three years after a favourable order, not three months.
Test the statutory bars first in any revision notice; they are jurisdictional.
Insist on a hearing and on reasons dealing with your submissions.
Where an adjudication order in your favour is cryptic, consider whether a rectification to record reasons is worth seeking.
This page states the general position. A reader with a specific question on their own facts may write to the GST practice at AMLEGALS.
Write to the GST practiceQuestions we are asked on this
Can an order under appeal be revised?
No. The pendency or the availability of an appeal is a bar within the terms of the section.
How long does the revisional power last?
Subject to the conditions in the section, including a three year outer limit from the date of the order, with the statutory exceptions.
Is a hearing required?
Yes, before an order adverse to the taxpayer.
Is a revisional order appealable?
Yes, and the forum depends on the authority passing it. Verify before filing.
Can revision be used to enhance a demand?
Where the order is prejudicial to revenue and the conditions are satisfied, yes. That is its purpose.
In this cluster
- GST appeals in 2026: the complete route from DRC-07 to the Supreme Court
- GSTAT appeals in 2026: limitation, pre deposit and the filing discipline that survives scrutiny
- Pre-deposit under Sections 107 and 112: the corrected arithmetic
- Penalty only demands and the pre-deposit for appeal
- Condonation of delay in GST appeals: what persuades, and what does not
- Drafting grounds of appeal in GST: the structure that wins
- GSTAT Procedure Rules, 2025: the practitioner's walkthrough
- Stay of recovery pending appeal: Section 107(7) and beyond
- Additional evidence before the appellate authority under Rule 112
- Departmental appeals and the review mechanism under Section 107(2)
GST Insights is published by AMLEGALS for general information. Law stated as on 3 September 2026. Not advice on any particular set of facts; not an advertisement or a solicitation under Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules. Readers with a question on their own facts may write to the GST practice of their own accord.