In Brief
Tech-Span India Private Ltd., a software export company, filed a return claiming deduction under Section 10A of the Income Tax Act for assessment year 2001-02. After the original assessment was completed in 2004, the Revenue reopened the assessment in 2005 on the ground that the Section 10A deduction was allowed in excess. The assessee challenged this before the High Court, which quashed the reopening notice. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision, holding that reopening an assessment based merely on a change of opinion regarding facts already considered during the original proceedings violates the legal principle against arbitrary reassessment power. The Court dismissed the Revenue's appeal, affirming that the assessing officer must have tangible new material (not mere reinterpretation of known facts) to justify reopening."
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