HC dismissed the petition challenging reopening of assessment...

HC dismissed the petition challenging reopening of assessment under s.147, upholding the impugned order where no jurisdictional plea was advanced. The court held that review of the sufficiency or adequacy of the recorded reasons to believe is circumscribed by judicial restraint and the Wednesbury principle of reasonableness; courts do not act as appellate bodies to reassess administrative satisfaction absent arbitrariness or mala fides. The formation of opinion by tax authorities is administrative, requiring honest, bona fide information and a reasonable nexus to alleged non-production of documents; extraneous material vitiates the belief. In consequence, the petition was dismissed and the reassessment proceedings remain valid.

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