Reopening of assessment without fresh material is invalid where it merely repeats issues already examined earlier.

Reopening of assessment under section 147 was found invalid where the Assessing Officer relied on the same facts already examined in earlier section 263 proceedings and no fresh material had come to light after the original processing. The Tribunal held that the reassessment notice merely repeated the earlier points, so the Assessing Officer lacked an independent basis to form a belief that income had escaped assessment. In the absence of new material, the attempt amounted to a mere change of opinion. The reopening was therefore held bad in law and without jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether the reopening of assessment under section 147 was valid when no fresh material had come to the Assessing Officer's possession and the notice referred only to the same points as the earlier section 263 proceedings.

Analysis: The assessee had challenged the reassessment on the ground that the reopening was founded on the same set of facts that had already been considered in the section 263 proceedings, which were dropped by the Commissioner. The Tribunal found that no new material had emerged after the original processing, and the notice for reopening merely referred back to the same points mentioned in the section 263 notice. In those circumstances, the Assessing Officer had not formed an independent basis for the belief that income had escaped assessment. The Tribunal also relied on the principle that reopening cannot rest on a mere change of opinion in the absence of fresh material.

Conclusion: The reopening was held to be bad in law and without jurisdiction, and the assessee succeeded.

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