Reason To Believe - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition reason-to-believe

Definition :

Reason to believe, does not mean a purely subjective satisfaction. The belief must be held in good faith; it cannot be merely a pretence, S. Narayanappa v. CIT, Bangalore, AIR 1967 SC 523: (1967) 65 ITR 219: 1967 1 SCJ 161.

Reason to believe, does not mean a purely subjective satisfaction. The believe must be held in good faith. It cannot be merely a pretence, S. Narayanappa v. C.I.T., Bangalore, 1967 ITR 219: AIR 1967 SC 523.

Reason to believe, is not synonymous with subjective satisfaction of the officer. The belief must be held in good faith; it cannot merely be a pretence, Partap Singh v. Director of Enforcement, AIR 1985 SC 989: (1985) 3 SCC 72.

Means that reasons should exist but the court will not go into the adequacy of such reason, Manchand & Co. v. CIT, West Bengal, AIR 1969 Cal 431.

Means coming to the conclusion on the basis of the information that a thing, condition, statement or fact exists. It only means facts which prima facie will convince any reasonable person under the circumstances of the case to form a belief that will impel him to take action under law, A.K. Subbaiah v. Karnataka State Bar Council, Bangalore, AIR 2002 Kant 410. (See also Advocates Act, 1961, s. 35)

Reason to believe, must be supported by a brief order recording reasons and prima facie formulation of grounds in support thereof at least broadly backed by statement of facts and summary of materials sought to be relied upon in support of the prima facie conclusion of the Commissioner to commence a suo moto inquiry, Taher Alimohohamad Poonawala v. Quizar Shaikh Nomanbhoy, AIR 1995 Bom 422.

Reason to believe, or 'in the opinion of' do not always lead to the construction that the process of entertaining reason to believe or the opinion' is an altogether subjective process not leading itself even to a limited scrutiny by the court that such 'a reason to believe' or 'opinion' was not formed on relevant facts or within the limits, or within the restraints of the statute as an alternative safeguard to rules of natural justice where the function is administrative, Nakkuda Ali v. Jayarotus, (1951) AC 66; Ridge v. Baldwin, (1964) AC 40 (73); Re Barium Chemicals Ltd. v. Company Law Board, AIR 1967 SC 295.

Reason to believe, shows that the belief that the applicant may be so arrested must be founded on reasonable grounds. Mere 'fear' is not 'belief' for which reason it is not enough for the applicant to show that he has some sort of vague apprehension that someone is going to make an accusation against him, in pursuance of which he may be arrested, Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. State of Punjab, 1980 SCC Cr 465; Mohammed Abbas Shafi v. Sub-Registrar, 1996 3 Andh LT 976.

The expression 'reason to believe' postulates belief and the existence of reasons for that belief. The belief must be held in good faith, it cannot be merely a pretence, Calcutta Discount Co. Ltd. v. Income Tax Officer, AIR 1961 SC 372 (382): (1961) 2 SCR 241. (Income Tax Act, 1922, s. 34)

The belief must be based on reasons which are relevant and material, S. Ganga Saran & Sons (P) Ltd. v. Income Tax Officer, AIR 1981 SC 1363: (1981) 3 SCC 143: (1981) 3 SCR 564. [Income Tax Act, 1961, s. 147(9)]

The belief must be held in good faith. It cannot be merely a pretence. It is open to the court to examine whether the reasons for the belief have a rational connection or a relevant bearing to the formation of the belief and are not extraneous or irrelevant to the purpose of the section, Madhya Pradesh Industries Ltd. v. Income Tax Officer, AIR 1970 SC 1011: (1970) 2 SCC 32: (1971) 1 SCR 266.

The expression 'reason to believe' on the part of the concerned officer though it does not contemplate an enquiry as such by him, it is not entirely subjective. The reasons for his belief have to be relevant and not extraneous, Assistant Collector of Customs v. Charan Das Malhotra, AIR 1972 SC 689: (1971) 1 SCC 697: (1971) 3 SCR 802.

The words 'reason to believe' suggest that the belief must be that of an honest and reasonable person based on reasonable grounds, Sheo Nath Singh v. Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, AIR 1971 SC 2451: (1972) 3SCC 234: (1972) 1 SCR 175.

The words 'reason to believe', convey that there must be some rational basis for the assessing authority to form the belief that the whole or any part of the turnover of a dealer has, for any reason, escaped assessment to tax for some reason. If such a basis exists, the assessing authority can proceed in the manner laid down in the section, Commissioner of Sales Tax v. Bhagwan Industries (P) Ltd., AIR 1973 SC 370 (374): (1973) 3 SCC 265: (1973) 2 SCR 625. [U.P. Sales Tax Act, (15 of 1948), s. 29]

The important words under s. 147(a) are 'has reason to believe' and these words are stronger than the words 'is satisfied'. The belief entertained by the Income Tax Officer must not be arbitrary or irrational. It must be reasonable or in other words it must be based on reasons which are relevant and material, Ganga Saran and Sons (Pvt.) Ltd. v. Income Tax Officer, AIR 1981 SC 1363: (1981) 3 SCC 143: (1982) 3 SCR 564.

The expression 'reason to believe' is no synonymous with the subjective satisfaction of the Officer. The belief must be held in good faith; it cannot merely be a pretense, Dr. Partap Singh v. Director of Enforce-ment, AIR 1985 SC 989 (992): (1985) 3 SCC 72: (1985) 3 SCR 969. (FERA, 1973, ss. 37, 38)

Reason to believe is not the same thing as 'suspicion' or 'doubt' and mere seeing also cannot be equated to believing. 'Reason to believe' is a higher level of state of mind, Joti Parshad v. State of Haryana, AIR 1993 SC 1167: (1993) Supp 2 SCC 497.

The words 'reason to believe' contemplate an objec-tive determination based on intelligent care and deliberation involving judicial review as distingui-shed from a purely subjective consideration, Shri Melicio Fernandes v. Shri Mohan Nair, AIR 1966 Goa 23 (27). [Criminal PC, 1898, s. 96(1)]

A person is said to have 'reason to believe' a thing, if he has sufficient cause to believe that thing but not otherwise. (Indian Penal Code, s. 26)