Reassessment on fresh information only: change of opinion on the same material cannot justify reopening under the income-tax law.

Reopening of an assessment under section 34(1)(b) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 required information coming into the department's possession after the original assessment and forming an honest and reasonable belief that income had escaped assessment. A mere fresh appraisal of the same material, or a change of opinion, was not enough. As no post-assessment information was shown to exist before the notice was issued, the reopening was held invalid and the referred question was answered in the negative in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the reopening of the assessee's assessment under section 34(1)(b) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 was valid on the basis of information in the Income-tax Officer's possession.

Analysis: Reopening under section 34(1)(b) required information coming into the department's possession after the original assessment, giving rise to an honest and reasonable belief that income had escaped assessment. A mere fresh appraisal of the same material, or a change of opinion, was insufficient. On the record, no material was shown to establish that any such post-assessment information existed before the notice was issued.

Conclusion: The reopening was invalid and the answer to the referred question was in the negative, in favour of the assessee.

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