Section 489 — Presumption as to assets, books of account, etc , in certain cases. Successor to s.278D of the 1961 Act.
Section 489 is in Chapter XXII — Offences and Prosecutions, which runs from section 473 to section 498.
Sub-section (1) applies where money, bullion, jewellery, virtual digital assets or other valuable articles, or books of account, other documents, information in electronic form as defined in section 261(g), information on a computer system as defined in section 261(e), or a computer system containing such information, were found in a person's possession or control during a search under section 247 and are tendered by the prosecution in evidence against him, or against him and a person referred to in section 484, for an offence under the Act: in that case the presumptions in section 247(7) apply, so far as may be, to those assets, documents or information. Sub-section (2) does the same where such material was taken into custody by an officer or authority referred to in section 248(1)(a), (b) or (c) and delivered to the requisitioning officer under section 248(2) before being tendered in evidence.
Section 247(7) supplies presumptions about ownership, truth of contents and signatures for material found in a search; this section carries those presumptions into a criminal prosecution so the department does not have to prove the same basic facts again. Sub-section (2) extends the same treatment to requisitioned material, which was seized by another authority rather than found directly in the search.
If the material was found in your possession or control during a section 247 search, or requisitioned under section 248 and handed over, the prosecution can rely on the section 247(7) presumptions in the criminal case — the burden of displacing them falls on you. The section adds no new presumption of its own; what it does is remove the argument that the presumptions are confined to assessment proceedings. Note that it reaches electronic material and computer systems expressly, by reference to the definitions in section 261(e) and (g).
Books of account and a laptop are found in a person's control during a search under section 247, and the department later prosecutes him for an offence under the Act, tendering that material in evidence against him and a person referred to in section 484. The presumptions section 247(7) raises about material found in a search apply, so far as may be, in the prosecution too, so the burden of displacing them falls on the accused rather than the prosecution having to prove those basic facts afresh. The position is the same where the material was never found in the search but was taken into custody by an officer or authority under section 248(1) and delivered to the requisitioning officer under section 248(2); and it makes no difference that what is tendered is information in electronic form under section 261(g), information on a computer system under section 261(e), or the computer system itself.
In a criminal prosecution for an offence under the Act, at the point where the department tenders search or requisitioned material in evidence before the trial court. You do not meet this section in an assessment — there what you meet is section 247(7) itself; this one exists to carry those presumptions across into the prosecution.
the provisions of section 247(7) shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to such assets or books of account or other documents or such information
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.