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Income-tax Act, 1961 · Chapter XIII: Income-Tax Authorities · C.—Powers

Section 132A: Powers to requisition books of account, etc

The Income-tax Act, 1961 was repealed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 from 1 April 2026. The text is kept here because the judgments below apply it.

In plain words

Senior income tax authorities may requisition books, documents or assets that are already in the custody of another officer or authority under some other law, if they have reason to believe they are relevant or represent undisclosed income.

  • The grounds are similar to those for a search under section 132: failure to produce documents on summons or notice, or assets representing undisclosed income.
  • The requisitioned material is handed over to the authorised income tax officer.
  • It is then dealt with as if seized in a search.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

(1) Where the [ [Principal Director General or Director General] or [Principal Director or Director]] or the [ [Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner] or [Principal Commissioner or Commissioner]], in consequence of information in his possession, has reason to believe that—

(a) any person to whom a summons under sub-section (1) of section 37 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), or under sub-section (1) of section 131 of this Act, or a notice under sub-section (4) of section 22 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, or under sub-section (1) of section 142 of this Act was issued to produce, or cause to be produced, any books of account or other documents has omitted or failed to produce, or cause to be produced, such books of account or other documents, as required by such summons or notice and the said books of account or other documents have been taken into custody by any officer or authority under any other law for the time being in force, or

(b) any books of account or other documents will be useful for, or relevant to, any proceeding under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), or under this Act and any person to whom a summons or notice as aforesaid has been or might be issued will not, or would not, produce or cause to be produced, such books of account or other documents on the return of such books of account or other documents by any officer or authority by whom or which such books of account or other documents have been taken into custody under any other law for the time being in force, or

(c) any assets represent either wholly or partly income or property which has not been, or would not have been, disclosed for the purposes of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), or this Act by any person from whose possession or control such assets have been taken into custody by any officer or authority under any other law for the time being in force, then, the [[Principal Director General or Director General] or [Principal Director or Director]] or the [[Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner] or [Principal Commissioner or Commissioner]] may authorise any [Additional Director, Additional Commissioner,] [Joint Director], [Joint Commissioner], [Assistant Director or Deputy Director] or [Assessing Officer] [hereafter in this section and in sub-section (2) of section 278D referred to as the requisitioning officer] to require the officer or authority referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c), as the case may be, to deliver such books of account, other documents or assets to the requisitioning officer.

[Explanation:—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the reason to believe, as recorded y the income-tax authority under this sub-section, shall not be disclosed to any person or any authority or the Appellate Tribunal.]

(2) On a requisition being made under sub-section (1), the officer or authority referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c), as the case may be, of that sub-section shall deliver the books of account, other documents or assets to the requisitioning officer either forthwith or when such officer or authority is of the opinion that it is no longer necessary to retain the same in his or its custody.

(3) Where any books of account, other documents or assets have been delivered to the requisitioning officer, the provisions of sub-sections (4A) to (14) (both inclusive) of section 132 and section 132B shall, so far as may be, apply as if such books of account, other documents or assets had been seized under sub-section (1) of section 132 by the requisitioning officer from the custody of the person referred to in clause

(a) or clause (b) or clause (c), as the case may be, of sub-section (1) of this section and as if for the words —the authorised officer‖ occurring in any of the aforesaid sub-sections (4A) to (14), the words —the requisitioning officer‖ were substituted.]

Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 132A