Section 247 — Search and seizure. Successor to s.132 of the 1961 Act.
Section 247 is in Chapter XIV — Tax Administration, which runs from section 236 to section 261.
Sub-section (1) sets the trigger and the powers. Where the competent authority, in consequence of information in his possession, has reason to believe either that a person served with a summons under section 131(1) or a notice under section 142(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, or a summons under section 246(1) or a notice under section 268(1) of this Act, has failed to produce what was called for, or that such a person will not produce books of account, documents or information in electronic form or on a computer system useful or relevant to proceedings, or that a person is in possession of an asset, or information relating to an asset, representing wholly or partly undisclosed income or property for the purposes of the 1961 Act, the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 or this Act, the approving authority may authorise a Joint Director, Joint Commissioner, Assistant Director, Assistant Commissioner or Income-tax Officer — and a Joint Director or Joint Commissioner so authorised may in turn authorise an Assistant Director, Assistant Commissioner or Income-tax Officer. The authorised officer may then enter and search any building, place, vessel, vehicle or aircraft under clause (i); require any person in possession or control of electronic records or information to afford reasonable technical and other assistance, including the access code by whatever name called, under clause (ii); break open locks or override an access code where keys or access are not available, under clause (iii); search a person getting out of, about to get into, or in the premises or conveyance, under clause (iv); place identification marks and make extracts or copies, including from a computer system, under clause (v); make a note or inventory of any asset and of stock-in-trade found, under clause (vi); and seize books of account, other documents, computer systems or assets other than stock-in-trade, under clause (vii).
Sub-section (2) lets an income-tax authority with territorial jurisdiction over the premises but no jurisdiction over the person exercise the sub-section (1) powers, where he has reason to believe that delay in obtaining authorisation from the authority having jurisdiction over the person may be prejudicial to the interests of the revenue. Sub-section (3) allows a Principal Chief Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, on reason to suspect that material or assets are kept at a place not mentioned in the authorisation, to authorise the same officer to act at that place, irrespective of anything in section 241.
Sub-section (4) provides two restraint powers. Under clause (a), where physical possession of a valuable article or thing other than stock-in-trade is not possible or practicable because of volume, weight, other physical characteristics or dangerous nature, the authorised officer may serve an order on the owner or person in immediate possession or control not to deal with it without his previous permission, and that action is deemed to be a seizure under sub-section (1)(vii). Under clause (b), where it is not practicable to seize books of account, documents, an asset, a bank locker, a bank account or a computer system for other reasons, a similar order may be served and steps taken to secure compliance, but such an order shall not remain in force beyond sixty days from its date, and serving it is not deemed to be a seizure.
Sub-section (5) allows the authorised officer to requisition the services of any police officer or officer of the Central Government, or of an approved person or entity, and imposes a duty to comply. Sub-section (6) allows examination on oath during the search of any person in possession or control of, or having access to, the material, or any other person present, with the statement usable in evidence in any proceeding under the 1961 Act or this Act, and the examination not confined to what was found in the search. Sub-section (7) raises five presumptions against a person found in possession or control: that the books, documents, information, asset or computer system belong to him; that their contents are true; that handwriting and signatures are those they purport to be; that a stamped, executed or attested document was duly so; and that electronic information purporting to be exchanged between parties was so exchanged.
Sub-section (8) allows provisional attachment of any property belonging to the assessee, during the search or seizure or within sixty days from the execution of the last authorisation, on written reasons recorded, satisfaction that it is necessary in the interests of the revenue, and prior approval of the Principal Director General, Director General, Principal Director or Director; the attachment is valid for six months from the end of the month of the order, with the section 413 rules applying mutatis mutandis. Sub-section (9) allows a reference during the search or within sixty days of execution of the last authorisation to a Valuation Officer, a valuer registered under section 514, or an approved registered person or entity, to estimate fair market value in the prescribed manner and report within sixty days of receipt of the reference.
Sub-section (10) applies the search and seizure provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 so far as may be. Sub-section (11) empowers the Board to make rules on ingress and on safe custody. Sub-section (12) defines "proceeding" for the section as any proceeding for any year under the 1961 Act or this Act, pending on the date the search is authorised or completed on or before that date, and includes proceedings under this Act commenced after that date.
The section is the Act's power to take material by force rather than by request, and every element of it is arranged around that fact: an information-based reason to believe as the entry condition, a named hierarchy of authorising and authorised officers, an exhaustive list of what the officer may physically do, and time limits on the restraints that follow. The electronic provisions — access codes, overriding a computer system, technical assistance, and the presumption in sub-section (7)(e) about exchanged information — exist because the material sought is now typically held on systems rather than in a locked almirah. The presumptions in sub-section (7) shift the burden onto the person found in possession, which is what makes seized material usable without separate proof of authorship.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum life of a restraint order under sub-section (4)(b) | Sixty days from the date of the order | Where it is not practicable to seize books, documents, an asset, a bank locker, a bank account or a computer system for reasons other than those in clause (a); serving such an order is not deemed to be a seizure | Sub-section (4)(b)(ii) |
| Window for making a provisional attachment | During the search or seizure, or within sixty days from the date of execution of the last of the authorisations for the search | Requires reasons recorded in writing, satisfaction that it is necessary in the interest of the revenue, and prior approval of the Principal Director General, Director General, Principal Director or Director | Sub-section (8) |
| Validity of a provisional attachment | Six months from the end of the month in which the order is made | Rules made under section 413 apply mutatis mutandis | Sub-section (8)(b) |
| Window for making a valuation reference | During the search or seizure, or within sixty days from the date on which the last of the authorisations for search was executed | Reference to a Valuation Officer, a valuer registered under section 514, or an approved registered person or entity | Sub-section (9) |
| Time for the valuer to report | Within sixty days from the date of receipt of the reference | Report of the estimate of fair market value, to the authorised officer or the Assessing Officer | Sub-section (9)(b) |
The two restraint powers in sub-section (4) are not the same thing and the difference decides real cases: a clause (a) order on a bulky, heavy or dangerous valuable article is deemed to be a seizure under sub-section (1)(vii) and carries no stated time limit, while a clause (b) order is expressly not a seizure and dies after sixty days. Stock-in-trade may be noted and inventoried under clause (vi) but is excluded from seizure by clause (vii) and from clause (4)(a), so it stays with the business. The three sixty-day periods run from different events — the restraint order's own date, the execution of the last authorisation for attachment and for a valuation reference, and receipt of the reference for the valuer's report — so they cannot be treated as one clock. The presumptions in sub-section (7) are raised against the person found in possession or control, which is why the person present at the premises, not necessarily the assessee, is the one who must displace them; and sub-section (6)(b) allows examination well beyond what the search turned up, extending to all matters relevant to any investigation connected with any proceeding. Sub-section (12) makes "proceeding" reach backwards and forwards, covering years already concluded before the search and years whose proceedings begin after it.
Officers authorised under sub-section (1) search a firm's premises, find gold bars and a server, and require the person present to give up the access code under clause (ii). The gold is seized under clause (vii); the trading stock in the godown is only inventoried under clause (vi) and left behind. A heavy machine in the yard cannot practicably be removed, so a clause (4)(a) order is served on the person in control — that counts as a seizure. The firm's bank locker cannot be seized on the day, so a clause (4)(b) order is served instead; it lapses sixty days later and is not a seizure. Within sixty days of execution of the last authorisation, the authorised officer provisionally attaches a plot of land with the Director's prior approval, and that attachment is good for six months from the end of the month of the order.
In the authorisation shown at the start of a search, the panchnama and inventory drawn up during it, the statement recorded on oath under sub-section (6), any restraint order served under sub-section (4), and the provisional attachment order under sub-section (8). The material taken then reappears in the block assessment proceedings that follow.
require any person, who is found to be in possession or control of any books of account or other documents maintained in the form of electronic record or any information in electronic form or on a computer system, to afford the authorised officer with such reasonable technical and other assistance (including access code, by whatever name called)
seize any such books of account, other documents, computer systems or asset (other than stock-in-trade of the business), found as a result of such search
such order shall not remain in force for a period exceeding sixty days from the date of the order
be valid for six months from the end of the month in which the order of provisional attachment is made
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.
All of them are in the Rules 2026 index.
See every circular and notification on this section, or the circulars index.
See every circular and notification on this section, or the notifications index.
