Reassessment on change of opinion barred when completed scrutiny assessment was reopened only on audit objection without fresh material.

A completed scrutiny assessment under section 143(3) cannot be reopened under sections 147 and 148 where the assessee had made full disclosure, the Assessing Officer had already examined the issue in detail, and no fresh tangible material emerged. Reopening based only on an internal audit objection and the same material amounts to a mere change of opinion, which is impermissible. As the recorded reasons did not allege any failure to disclose fully and truly all material facts, the notice issued under section 148 was without jurisdiction and was quashed.

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Issues: Whether notice issued under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 reopening a completed assessment could be sustained when the original assessment under section 143(3) had been made after full disclosure and detailed enquiry, and the reopening was based only on an audit objection and a change of opinion.

Analysis: The petitioner had placed all primary facts before the Assessing Officer in the original scrutiny assessment, including the valuation and purchase consideration of the copyright. The Assessing Officer had examined the issue in detail, recorded a detailed office note, and accepted the valuation while completing assessment under section 143(3). The reasons recorded for reopening did not state that there had been any failure on the part of the assessee to disclose fully and truly all material facts. No new material had come to light after the original assessment. The reopening was triggered only after an internal audit objection, but an audit opinion on law or a reassessment based on the same material cannot constitute valid information for reopening. Reassessment on the same facts amounts to a mere change of opinion, which is impermissible.

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was without jurisdiction and was quashed.

Final Conclusion: Reopening of the completed assessment was held invalid because it rested on the same material already examined in the original scrutiny assessment and was unsupported by any fresh tangible material or failure of disclosure.

Ratio Decidendi: A completed assessment under section 143(3) cannot be reopened under sections 147 and 148 on a mere change of opinion or on the basis of an audit objection, in the absence of fresh material or failure by the assessee to disclose fully and truly all material facts.

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