Reassessment based on a mere change of opinion is invalid when the same material was already examined in the original assessment.

Reassessment under Sections 147 and 148 was invalid where the survey material, books of account and impounded documents had already been examined in the original Section 143(3) assessment. A reopening based on the same material amounted to a mere change of opinion, which does not confer jurisdiction to reassess or support a fresh notice on the assertion that income had escaped assessment. The reassessment notice was therefore quashed in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether reassessment under Sections 147 and 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was valid when the material relied upon had already been considered in the original assessment.

Analysis: The original assessment order showed that the survey material, books of account, and impounded documents were already before the assessing authority and had been examined before completing the assessment under Section 143(3). On those facts, reopening could not be justified merely because the assessing authority later took a different view on the same material. The power to reassess does not permit a review on a mere change of opinion, and jurisdiction cannot be founded only on the assertion that income had escaped assessment when the very subject matter was earlier considered.

Conclusion: The reassessment notice was invalid and was rightly quashed in favour of the assessee.

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