Recorded reasons and change of opinion bar reassessment where reopening rests on unrecorded internal notes.

A reassessment notice under section 148 was invalid where the recorded reasons showed only a reappraisal of material already considered in the completed section 143(3) assessment, amounting to a mere change of opinion. The court held that jurisdiction for reopening must rest on reasons actually recorded by the Assessing Officer; an internal handwritten note not forming part of the recorded reasons cannot be treated as statutory compliance under section 148(2) or supply jurisdiction under sections 147(a) or 147(b). The notice was therefore quashed, as the reopening could not be sustained on extraneous material.

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Issues: Whether the reopening notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was valid when the stated reasons showed a mere change of opinion, and whether an internal note could be treated as the recorded reasons required for reassessment.

Analysis: The assessment had been completed under section 143(3), and the subsequent notice sought to reopen the concluded assessment on the same material relating to the driage of groundnuts. The reasons recorded in the file disclosed only a reappraisal of the original material and did not furnish a jurisdictional basis for reopening on the recorded grounds. The separate handwritten note could not be elevated to the statutory recording of reasons under section 148(2), because in writ proceedings the court examines only the reasons actually recorded and cannot supply jurisdiction from extraneous material. Since the note was not the recorded reasons, it could not validate the reopening either under section 147(a) or section 147(b).

Conclusion: The reopening was without jurisdiction and the notice under section 148 was quashed in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: Reassessment cannot be sustained on the basis of an unrecorded internal note or on a mere change of opinion; the jurisdictional requirement is the existence of valid recorded reasons for reopening.

Ratio Decidendi: For a valid reassessment, the Assessing Officer must himself record reasons that legally justify reopening, and an internal note not forming part of the recorded reasons cannot confer jurisdiction or cure a notice issued on a mere change of opinion.

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