Reassessment reopening fails where the recorded reason is factually wrong and cannot be cured by later clarification.

Reassessment reopening failed because the recorded reason was factually wrong: the Assessing Officer proceeded on the basis that the assessee had purchased immovable property, whereas the record showed a sale by the assessee and co-sharers. In reassessment matters, the validity of reopening must be tested strictly on the reasons recorded, and those reasons cannot be substituted, improved, or supplemented later by affidavit or oral explanation. The reassessment notice, section 142(1) notice, and the order rejecting objections were quashed. The revenue was, however, left free to begin fresh proceedings on any other lawful basis supported by correctly recorded reasons.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment notice and the order rejecting objections were liable to be quashed because the recorded reason to reopen the assessment proceeded on an incorrect factual that the assessee had purchased immovable property, when the record showed a sale transaction.

Analysis: The recorded reasons for reopening stated that the assessee had purchased immovable property of a stated value, but the materials on record showed that the assessee, along with co-sharers, had in fact sold ancestral property. The revenue also accepted that the reference to purchase was due to typographical error or oversight. In reassessment matters, the validity of reopening has to be tested strictly on the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer, and those reasons cannot be substituted, improved, or supplemented later through affidavits or oral submissions. Since the foundational reason for reopening was factually , the initiation of reassessment could not stand. At the same time, the Court noted that the sale deed and return disclosed a residential property as agricultural land and that the revenue could examine a fresh proceeding on that basis in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The reassessment notice, the notice under section 142(1), and the order rejecting objections were quashed as being founded on an incorrect recorded reason; the assessee succeeded on this issue, though the revenue was left free to initiate fresh proceedings on a different lawful basis.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was allowed and the impugned reassessment proceedings were set aside, without foreclosing lawful fresh action on the basis of correctly recorded reasons.

Ratio Decidendi: A reassessment notice must stand or fall on the recorded reasons alone, and where the foundational reason is factually incorrect, the reopening is invalid and cannot be cured by later clarification or supplementation.

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