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2021 (10) TMI 1216 - HC - Income TaxValidity of reopening of assessment u/s 147 - Proof of new material to justify the re-opening of the assessment - change of opinion - whether the reopening of the assessment was based on mere "change of opinion" as contended by the Assessee or was there new material which could not have been examined earlier and which justified the reopening of the assessment? - HELD THAT:- In the present case, the reasons for reopening the assessment do not point to any new material that was available with the Department. What appears to have happened is that the same material viz., the accounts produced by the Assessee were reexamined and a fresh opinion was arrived at by the Opposite Party No.1 regarding the claim of the deduction on account of the loss of sale of assets. This had already been disclosed in the detailed accounts filed by the Assessee. In fact, a questionnaire had been issued by the AO in the course of the original assessment proceedings to the Assessee which was responded to by the Assessee - there was conscious application of mind by the AO to the said materials. Therefore, the inevitable conclusion as far as the present case is concerned is that the ‘reason to believe’ of Opposite Party No.1 that income for the AY in question had escaped assessment is based on a mere ‘change of opinion’ The threshold set by the Supreme Court of India in Kelvinator of India Limited [2010 (1) TMI 11 - SUPREME COURT] to justify the reopening of the assessment has not been met in the present case. Consequently, the Court is unable to sustain the reopening of the assessment. Accordingly, for the aforementioned reasons, the impugned notice and all proceedings of the Department pursuant thereto stand hereby quashed. - Decided in favour of assessee.
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