Reopening notice under trade tax law needs fresh material; a later change of opinion alone is insufficient.

A reopening notice under Section 21 of the Trade Tax Act requires fresh material or another statutory basis showing escaped assessment. Here, the original assessment had already accepted the books and treated the transactions as book transfers, while the notice rested only on a later view that they were inter-State sales liable to central sales tax. No material was identified showing wrong calculation, bona fide error, ignorance of facts or law, fraud, or misrepresentation. In the absence of facts supporting the requisite belief, the reopening parameters were not satisfied and the notice was not legally sustainable.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under Section 21 of the Trade Tax Act was valid in the absence of any fresh material or other statutory basis showing escaped assessment or a permissible ground for reopening.

Analysis: The assessment for the relevant years had already been completed after the Assessing Authority accepted the entries in the books and treated them as book transfers. The notice under Section 21 proceeded only on a different opinion that the transactions were inter-State sales liable to central sales tax. It did not disclose any other material that had escaped notice at the time of assessment, nor did it indicate wrong calculation, bona fide human error, ignorance of correct facts or law, mistake of fact or law, fraud, or misrepresentation. The absence of material on which the requisite belief could be formed meant that the parameters for reopening were not satisfied.

Conclusion: The notice under Section 21 was not shown to be legally sustainable, and no error was found in the Tribunal's decision setting it aside.

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