Section 474 — Failure to comply with section 247(1)(ii). Successor to s.275B of the 1961 Act.
Section 474 is in Chapter XXII — Offences and Prosecutions, which runs from section 473 to section 498.
The section creates one offence. A person who is required to afford the authorised officer the necessary facility to inspect the books of account or other documents under section 247(1)(ii), and fails to do so, is punishable with simple imprisonment for a term up to six months, or with fine, or with both. That punishment was substituted by Act No. 4 of 2026 with effect from 1 April 2026; before the substitution the punishment was rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, with a mandatory fine in addition.
The power to inspect books and documents during a search under section 247 depends on the person in control of them cooperating at that moment, and the material can be made inaccessible in the time an enforcement dispute would take. The offence supplies an immediate sanction for that refusal. The 2026 substitution reduces its severity considerably.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum term of imprisonment | Simple imprisonment for a term up to six months | Substituted by Act No. 4 of 2026 w.e.f. 1-4-2026 for "rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine"; imprisonment, fine, or both may be imposed | Section 474 |
The offence is failure to afford the facility to inspect, not failure to produce or hand over — the duty is the one in section 247(1)(ii). Three points follow from the substituted punishment: the imprisonment is simple, not rigorous; six months is a ceiling, since the words are "up to six months"; and fine is now an alternative to imprisonment rather than a mandatory addition, because the substituted text reads "or with fine, or with both" where the earlier text made the offender also liable to fine. A prosecution is in any event subject to the sanction requirement in section 491(1).
During a search, the authorised officer asks the person in control of a business premises to give him access to the accounting records kept there so that he may inspect them under section 247(1)(ii), and the person refuses to open them. On conviction, the punishment under the substituted text is simple imprisonment which may extend to six months, or a fine, or both — where, before 1 April 2026, the same refusal carried rigorous imprisonment extending to two years and a fine in addition.
You meet this only as a criminal prosecution launched after a search, and not before it: section 491(1) bars a person from being proceeded against under this section except with the previous sanction of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner or Commissioner (Appeals) or Joint Commissioner (Appeals).
simple imprisonment for a term up to six months, or with fine, or with both
If a person, who is required to afford the authorised officer with the necessary facility to inspect the books of account or other documents, under section 247(1)(ii), fails to do so
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.