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2022 (2) TMI 568 - HC - Income TaxReopening of assessment u/s 147 - concept of change of opinion - HELD THAT:- The return filed by the petitioner was accepted under Section 143(1) of the Act. This was done without scrutiny. Under such circumstances, the assessing officer had not formed any opinion and, therefore, the concept of change of opinion while seeking to reopen the assessment would not apply. In cases where the return of an assessee is accepted without scrutiny, the assessing officer enjoys a greater latitude to reopen the assessment. This aspect has been elaborated by the Supreme Court in the case of Rajesh Jhaveri Stock Brokers P. Ltd. [2007 (5) TMI 197 - SUPREME COURT] and later on it was reiterated in the case of Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and another vs. Zuari Estate Development and Investment Company Limited [2015 (8) TMI 480 - SUPREME COURT] Reasons recorded by AO are not reflecting the live link or connection for formation of the belief that the income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment - If we peruse the detailed reasons recorded by the assessing officer, we find that he was having information indicating that certain operators, syndicate members and brokers were indulging in providing accommodation entries, often times creating penny stock companies and using them as conduit for converting untaxed income by bringing them on record by paying no tax claiming it to be long term capital gain, tax on sale of shares which was at the relevant time exempted. One such company found to be indulging in such activities was Life Line Drugs and Pharma Limited. The assessee, during the period relevant to the assessment year 2015-2016, had purchased shares in the said company at the very low price. After that, the price of these shares had risen phenomenally and they were sold at high price. AO had sufficient material at his command to form a belief that the income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment. There is a clear link between the information available with the assessing officer and his formation of belief that the income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment. The judgments relied by the learned counsel for the petitioner rest on the individual facts. - Decided against assessee.
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