Consistent tax classification prevents reassessment reopening where the Revenue lacks cogent material to change the entry.

A reassessment under section 21(2) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act was held unjustified where the commodity had consistently been treated as an Ayurvedic preparation. The product was manufactured under a drug licence, made from herbal ingredients according to Ayurvedic literature, and supported by a National Laboratory report, while prior and later assessment years had adopted the same classification. In the absence of cogent material to displace that settled position, the Revenue failed to show that the goods fell outside the accepted entry or within the residuary category. Reopening on mere suspicion was impermissible, and the notice issued under section 21(2) was quashed.

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Issues: Whether the sanction for reopening the assessment under section 21(2) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act and the notice issued thereunder were justified when the commodity had consistently been treated as an Ayurvedic preparation.

Analysis: The product in question was shown to be manufactured under a drug licence, prepared from herbal ingredients according to Ayurvedic literature, and treated as an Ayurvedic product in earlier and later assessment years. The record also showed that the National Laboratory report supported the assessee's stand. In these circumstances, the Revenue had no adequate material to dislodge the existing classification or to justify departure from the consistent treatment accorded to the commodity. The burden to establish that the goods fell outside the accepted entry or within the residuary category remained on the Revenue, and that burden was not discharged.

Conclusion: The permission to reopen the assessment and the notice issued under section 21(2) were unjustified and liable to be quashed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, and the impugned reopening action was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a commodity has been consistently assessed under a particular taxable entry and the Revenue has no cogent material to justify a different classification, reopening on the basis of mere suspicion is impermissible.

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