Recorded reasons to believe are mandatory before reopening reassessment; absence of independent satisfaction invalidates the notice.

Reassessment under Section 24(1) of the Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975 required the Commissioner or delegated assessing authority to record reasons to believe that turnover had escaped assessment before issuing notice. Where reassessment was initiated only on directions of higher authorities and no independent satisfaction was recorded, the jurisdictional condition precedent was not met. The absence of recorded reasons was not a mere procedural irregularity but a substantive defect going to the validity of the reopening. The reassessment proceedings were therefore invalid and unsustainable in law.

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Issues: (i) Whether reassessment proceedings could be sustained when no reasons to believe were recorded before issuing notice under Section 24(1) of the Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975.

Analysis: The reopening power under Section 24(1) required the Commissioner, or the delegated assessing authority, to have and record reasons to believe that turnover had escaped assessment before issuing notice. The record showed only that the reassessment was initiated as per directions of higher authorities, without any independent recorded satisfaction by the assessing officer. This was not a mere procedural defect, but a failure to satisfy the jurisdictional condition precedent for reopening a concluded assessment. The settled position was that the existence of reasons must precede the notice and must be recorded, so that the reopening is amenable to judicial review and is not exercised mechanically.

Conclusion: The reassessment proceedings were invalid and unsustainable in law for want of recorded reasons to believe; the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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