Reopening beyond four years barred where section 10B deduction was fully examined in scrutiny and no material nondisclosure was shown.

Reopening of a scrutiny assessment beyond four years is barred where the Assessing Officer had already examined the deduction claim under section 10B and the assessee had disclosed all primary facts, including supporting certificates and related documents. On those facts, the notice merely sought to revisit an issue earlier considered, with no failure to disclose fully and truly all material facts shown. The reopening was therefore invalid as a change of opinion.

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Issues: Whether reopening of the assessment beyond four years from the end of the relevant assessment year was valid when the original scrutiny assessment had examined the deduction claim under section 10B and there was no failure by the assessee to disclose fully and truly all material facts.

Analysis: The original assessment was completed after scrutiny, and the Assessing Officer had specifically queried the deduction claim under section 10B. The assessee furnished supporting material, including STPI certification, commencement documents, and details of foreign exchange realization. The Assessing Officer thereafter accepted the claim substantially, making only a limited disallowance on a different aspect. In these circumstances, the material facts were already before the Assessing Officer and the reopening sought to revisit an issue that had been examined earlier. Since the notice was issued beyond four years and no failure to disclose material facts was shown, the reopening was not permissible and amounted to a change of opinion.

Conclusion: The reopening of assessment was invalid and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessment completed after scrutiny has specifically examined a claim and the assessee has disclosed all primary facts, reopening beyond four years is barred in the absence of failure to disclose fully and truly all material facts and cannot be sustained as a mere change of opinion.

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