An error apparent on the face of the record justifies a review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the CPC, and the conditions for a review must be fulfilled.

ORDER :

1. The Court: The present application for review is by the judgment-debtor of a Judgment and order passed by this Court on 1st September, 2021 in GA 1 of 2020 in AP 175 of 2020 (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited Electrical Division vs. Optimal Power Synergy India Pvt. Ltd.). The impugned Judgment was passed in an application under section 36 of The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 filed by the judgment-debtor Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited for stay of an Award passed by the West Bengal State Micro Small Enterprises Facilitation Council on 24th September, 2019.The said Award was passed on a claim made by the respondent, Optimal Power Synergy India Pvt. Ltd., by which the judgment-debtor was held to be liable for a total principal amount of Rs. 61,08,654/- and interest thereon at three times the RBI rate compounded with monthly rests to Optimal Power/ the supplier unit. The Award debtor filed applications under sections 34 and 36 of the 1996 Act for setting aside and for stay of the Award respectively. According to the learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, by the impugned Judgment, Court has adjudicated on the applicable interest rate to be paid by the judgment-debtor and held that the Award of the Facilitation Council did not suffer from a lack of clarity. Counsel submits that the impugned Judgment would have a bearing in the adjudication of the section 34 application filed by the judgment-debtor which is pending before the Court.

2. Learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent decree-holder (Optimal) seeks to sustain the impugned Judgment on the ground that the present application does not fall within the purview of Order XLVII of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

3. The first question which should be answered is whether the present application falls within the parameters of Order XLVII Rule 1 of the CPC - "Application for review of judgment". Under Order XLVII Rule 1, a person aggrieved under sub-Rules 1(a), (b), (c) may apply for review of a judgment to the Court which passed the decree or made the order upon discovery of new and important matter or evidence which could not be produced by him at the time when the decree was passed, despite due diligence or because the new matter was not within his knowledge at the relevant point of time. The second requirement is that the Judgment must reflect a mistake or error apparent on the face of the record. The provision also makes room for applying for review for any other sufficient reason.

4. The applicant in the present case falls within the second requirement as would be clear from the position taken by counsel appearing on its behalf. The error apparent on the face of the record, as submitted, is that the impugned Judgment was adjudicated on the total amount payable by the applicant to the respondent together with the quantum of interest without taking into account the alleged lack of clarity in the Award passed by the Facilitation Council.

5. The issue to be decided is whether the request to the Court to revisit the Judgment for the purposes of Order XLVII can be brought within the purview of a "mistake or error apparent on the face of the record". The accepted proposition of law, as settled by several decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, is that an error apparent on the face of the record is an error which would be self-evident and obvious even at first glance. An error which needs to be established by a long-drawn process of reasoning on points requiring a contested hearing would not be an apparent error but a hidden error which would have to be detected by re-engaging on the merits of the matter. Such an error would in effect amount to reappraising the decree which is not permissible under Order XLVII. In other words, an error apparent on the face of the record is hence a mistake which stares back at the Court and directs the attention of the Court to the mistake for taking brisk steps for correction.

6. The language of Order XL