Reopening completed assessments cannot rest on a mere change of opinion over materials already on record.

Reopening completed assessments under section 18(1) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1959 requires new information coming into the authority's possession after the original assessment, or record-based information that gives reasonable grounds to believe turnover escaped assessment. Where the authority relies only on the same materials already considered at the original assessment, including sales nature, registration certificates and declaration forms, a fresh view of those materials is merely a change of opinion. That is insufficient to invoke the reopening power, so the notice was invalid and the assessees succeeded.

---

---

Issues: Whether the sales tax authorities could reopen completed assessments under section 18(1) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1959 merely by reappraising the same materials already on record and changing their earlier opinion.

Analysis: The reopening power under section 18(1) depends on the existence of information coming into the authority's possession after the original assessment, or information available from the record, coupled with satisfaction that reasonable grounds exist to believe that turnover has escaped assessment. Here, the materials relied upon for reopening were already before the assessing authority at the time of the original assessment, including the nature of the sales, the registration certificates, and the declaration form. The attempt to reopen was therefore not founded on new information but on a fresh view of the same materials. Such a course amounts only to a second thought or change of opinion, which is not permitted under the statutory scheme.

Conclusion: The reopening notice was invalid, as the condition precedent for action under section 18(1) was not satisfied, and the assessees succeeded.

---