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2017 (9) TMI 743 - HC - Income TaxReopening assessment - validity of notice - Tribunal held that the formation of the belief by the Assessing Officer that income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment was not correct - Held that:- The Tribunal went into minutest details of the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer and relied on the material which had come on record during the assessment and the appellate proceedings to hold that such reasons were not valid. In other words, without so saying, the Tribunal held that the formation of the belief by the Assessing Officer that income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment was not correct. As noted, as the judicial trend suggests that in a case where the return of an assessee is accepted under section 143(1) of the Act without scrutiny, the Assessing Officer of course, subject to the limitation provision contained in the Act, would have a right to reassess the income provided that he forms a belief that income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment. The validity of such formation of belief is of course open to challenge. Nevertheless, in our opinion, it is not permissible to criticize the formation of belief and to declare it as invalid from the inception by carrying out threadbare examination of documents, materials and the evidences which have come on record during the assessment proceedings. It is one thing to hold that a certain addition or disallowance made by the Assessing Officer was impermissible on the basis of materials on record. It is entirely another thing to say that on the assessment of evidence on record the formation of belief by the Assessing Officer that income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment was wrong. In the present case, the Tribunal has evaluated the evidence on record in minutest detail as if each limb of the Assessing Officer's reasons recorded for issuing notice of reopening was in the nature of an addition made in the order of assessment which had either to be upheld or reversed, which was simply impermissible. - order of ITAT set aside. - Decided in favour of revenue
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