Change of opinion cannot justify reassessment when no fresh material exists to support escaped assessment.

Reassessment under section 21 of the U.P. Trade Tax Act cannot proceed on a mere change of opinion where the material relied upon was already before the assessing authority in the original assessment. The record showed that the survey material had been available earlier and no fresh material was disclosed to support reopening. In these circumstances, the reassessment notice was outside the scope of reassessment jurisdiction, as a different inference from the same material does not amount to escaped assessment. The notices were therefore without authority of law and liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether notices issued for reassessment under section 21 of the U.P. Trade Tax Act were valid when they were founded on material already available and considered in the original assessment.

Analysis: Reassessment cannot be initiated on a mere change of opinion. The record showed that the survey material relied upon by the Revenue was already in existence at the time of the original assessment and no fresh material was disclosed to justify reopening. Where the assessing authority merely draws a different inference from the same material previously scrutinised, the proceeding falls outside the scope of reassessment jurisdiction and amounts to change of opinion rather than escaped assessment.

Conclusion: The reassessment notices were without authority of law and without jurisdiction, and were liable to be quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: Reassessment under section 21 cannot be sustained when it is founded only on a different view of the same material already considered in the original assessment, in the absence of fresh material indicating escaped assessment.

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