Taxpayer Wins Challenge Against Reassessment, AO's Suspicion Deemed Insufficient to Reopen Concluded Income Tax Proceedings

HC allowed the petitioner's appeal challenging reassessment under Section 147, finding the Assessing Officer (AO) lacked legitimate "reason to believe" income had escaped assessment. The notice was based solely on general information from Investigation Wing regarding share transactions, which constituted mere suspicion rather than tangible evidence. The AO failed to establish a substantive nexus demonstrating income escaping assessment for AY 2011-12. Applying established jurisprudence that "reasons to believe" cannot be equated with "reasons to suspect", the HC determined the reassessment notice was invalid, emphasizing that concluded assessments cannot be reopened on speculative grounds. .....

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