Reassessment by change of opinion is impermissible where the original assessment already examined the same material.

Bombay HC reiterated that reassessment under Section 147 cannot be based on the same material already examined in the original assessment. Where the Assessing Officer had called for details and considered the relevant items earlier, a later claim that the material was inadvertently not considered does not amount to fresh information. Reopening on that basis would permit the authority to correct its own omission and use reassessment as a review, which the provision does not allow. The notice under Section 148 was therefore invalid, as the proposed reopening was only a change of opinion.

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Issues: Whether reassessment under Section 147 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could be initiated where the Assessing Officer had already examined the relevant material in the original assessment but later asserted that the same material had been inadvertently not considered, thereby leading only to a change of opinion.

Analysis: The original assessment was made after calling for details and examining the very items later sought to be reopened. The reassessment notice was founded not on any new material or fresh information, but on the Assessing Officer's own statement that the available material had been inadvertently omitted from consideration earlier. Such a course would permit the authority to benefit from its own omission. The power to reopen assessment is not a power of review, and cannot be exercised merely because the same material is now viewed differently. Reopening on these facts would amount only to a change of opinion, which is impermissible.

Conclusion: The reassessment notice under Section 148 was invalid and the challenge succeeded.

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