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2016 (10) TMI 328 - GUJARAT HIGH COURTReopening of assessment - Eligibility of deduction u/s 80IB(10) - Held that:- Assessing Officer had minutely examined the petitioner's claim for deduction u/s. 80IB(10) of the Act. The question that such deduction would be available for development of a housing project was very much in mind of the Assessing Officer. In this context, we may peruse the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer for reopening the assessment more closely. He sought to revisit the assessee's claim of deduction u/s. 80IB(10) of the Act on the grounds that the assessee was not a constructive owner of the land and that the permission from AUDA was also not obtained by the assessee. On the basis of documents on record, the Assessing Officer was of the opinion that the assessee was merely a contractor and not a developer of a housing scheme. First and foremost, only on the ground of change of opinion, the notice would be rendered invalid. Once the Assessing Officer examined the claim of deduction u/s. 80IB(10) of the Act in the original scrutiny assessment without there being anything further, it would not be open for him to contend that since a particular aspect of the deduction was not examined, he should be permitted to reopen the assessment. It is not even the case of the Revenue that during the scrutiny assessment, the assessee did not furnish true and full details in response to the queries raised by the Assessing Officer. If the element of the explanation below sub section (10) of section 80IB, as suggested by the counsel for the Revenue, was in the mind of the Assessing Officer, the same is not reflected in the reasons recorded by him. It is well settled that the notice for reopening can be supported on the strength of the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer. It is even otherwise questionable whether with the aid of a statutory change made later on, assessment can be reopened, a question we need not finally decide in this petition. In any case, the Assessing Officer has not even relied on such explanation in the reasons recorded.- Decided in favour of assessee.
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