Change of opinion cannot justify reassessment when the same material was already examined in original scrutiny proceedings.

Reassessment under Sections 147 and 148 of the Income-tax Act was held impermissible where the original scrutiny assessments under Section 143(3) had already examined the transactions through detailed questionnaires and no fresh tangible material emerged. The court noted that the successor Assessing Officer merely revisited the same facts and adopted a different view on the taxability of receipts as fees for technical services. Where the assessee had disclosed all material facts fully and truly and the original assessment showed application of mind, reopening on a mere change of opinion fails the statutory pre-condition for jurisdiction. Reopening was therefore invalid.

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Issues: Whether reopening of the assessments under Section 147 read with Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was valid, or whether it was based only on a change of opinion where the material had already been examined in the original scrutiny assessments under Section 143(3).

Analysis: The original assessments were completed under Section 143(3) after the Assessing Officer issued detailed questionnaires and examined the nature of the transactions and receipts. No fresh material was shown to justify the reassessment. The successor Assessing Officer revisited the same material and reached a different view on the taxability of the receipts as fees for technical services. Reassessment cannot be founded on a mere different perception of the same facts when the assessee had already disclosed fully and truly all material facts and the original proceedings reflected application of mind. The pre-condition for invoking Section 147 was therefore absent.

Conclusion: Reopening under Sections 147 and 148 was invalid. The issue is decided in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: Reassessment is impermissible when it is based only on a change of opinion on the same material already examined in the original scrutiny assessment, and no fresh tangible material exists to justify the jurisdiction under Section 147.

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