Amendment of section 132.
50. In section 132 of the Income-tax Act,-
(i) in sub-section (1), after the fourth proviso, the following Explanation shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 1962, namely:-
“Explanation.––For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the reason to believe, as recorded by the income-tax authority under this sub-section, shall not be disclosed to any person or any authority or the Appellate Tribunal.”;
(ii) in sub-section (1A), the following Explanation shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st day of October, 1975, namely:-
“Explanation.––For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the reason to suspect, as recorded by the income-tax authority under this sub-section, shall not be disclosed to any person or any authority or the Appellate Tribunal.”;
(iii) after sub-section (9A), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:-
“(9B) Where, during the course of the search or seizure or within a period of sixty days from the date on which the last of the authorisations for search was executed, the authorised officer, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, is satisfied that for the purpose of protecting the interest of revenue, it is necessary so to do, he may with the previous approval of the Principal Director General or Director General or the Principal Director or Director, by order in writing, attach provisionally any property belonging to the assessee, and for the said purpose the provisions of the Second Schedule shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.
(9C) Every provisional attachment made under sub-section (9B) shall cease to have effect after the expiry of a period of six months from the date of the order referred to in sub-section (9B).
(9D) The authorised officer may, during the course of the search or seizure or within a period of sixty days from the date on which the last of the authorisations for search was executed, make a reference to a Valuation Officer referred to in section 142A, who shall estimate the fair market value of the property in the manner provided under that section and submit a report of the estimate to the said officer within a period of sixty days from the date of receipt of such reference.”;
(iv) for Explanation 1, the following Explanation shall be substituted, namely:-
‘Explanation 1.––For the purposes of sub-sections (9A), (9B) and (9D), with respect to “execution of an authorisation for search”, the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 153B shall apply.’.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 50 of the Bill seeks to amend section 132 of the Income-tax Act relating to search and seizure.
Sub-section (1) of the said section provides that where an income-tax authority mentioned therein, based on the information in his possession, has reason to believe of circumstances specified therein, he may authorise an authority specified therein to carry out search and seizure.
It is proposed to insert an Explanation after the fourth proviso to the said sub-section (1) so as to provide that the reason to believe recorded by the income-tax authority specified therein under the said sub-section shall not be disclosed to any person or any authority or the Appellate Tribunal.
This amendment will take effect retrospectively from 1st , April, 1962, the date of commencement of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Sub-section (1A) of the said section provides that where an authority mentioned therein, based on the information in his possession, has reason to suspect of the circumstances specified therein, he may authorise an authority specified therein to carry out search and seizure.
It is proposed to insert an Explanation in the said subsection (1A) so as to declare that reason to suspect recorded by the income-tax authority specified therein under the provisions of the said sub-section shall not be disclosed to any person or any authority, or the Appellate Tribunal.
This amendment will take effect retrospectively from 1st October, 1975.
It is further proposed to insert sub-section (9B) in the said section, to provide that in a search case, where the authorised officer is satisfied that for the purpose of protecting the interest of revenue and for reasons to be recorded in writing it is necessary so to do he may, by order in writing, attach provisionally any property belonging to the assessee with the prior approval of Principal Director General or Director General or Principal Director or Director.
It is also proposed to insert sub-section (9C) in the said section, so as to provide that such provisional attachment shall cease to have effect after the expiry of six months from the date of order of attachment.
It is also proposed to insert sub-section (9D) in the said section, to provide that in a search case, the authorised officer for estimation of fair market value of a property, may make a reference to a Valuation Officer referred to in section 142A, for valuation in the manner provided under the said subsection.
It is also proposed that the Valuation Officer shall furnish the valuation report within sixty days of receipt of such reference.
It is also proposed to amend Explanation 1 to section 132, so as to provide that for the purposes of sub-section (9A), sub-section (9B) and sub-section (9D), with respect to "execution of an authorisation for search" the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 153B shall apply.
These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2017.
