Section 512 — Publication of information respecting assessees in certain cases. Successor to s.287 of the 1961 Act.
Section 512 is in Chapter XXIII — Miscellaneous, which runs from section 499 to section 536.
Sub-section (1) empowers the Central Government, if it is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the public interest, to publish the names of any assessees and any other particulars relating to any proceedings or prosecutions under the Act in respect of them, in such manner as it thinks fit.
Sub-section (2) restrains that power in one case: no publication may be made for any penalty imposed under the Act until the time for filing an appeal under section 356 or 357 has expired and no appeal has been filed, or, where an appeal has been filed, until it has been disposed of.
Sub-section (3) allows the names of the partners of a firm, the directors, managing agents, secretaries and treasurers or managers of a company, or the members of an association, as the case may be, also to be published under sub-section (1) if in the opinion of the Central Government the circumstances of the case justify it.
Publication is a sanction that works through reputation rather than recovery, and the Act gives it to the Central Government for cases where the public interest calls for the facts to be known. The restraint exists because a penalty is not settled while it can still be appealed, and naming a person for a penalty later set aside cannot be undone. Sub-section (3) exists because the entity named in the proceedings is often not the person who directed the conduct.
The power in sub-section (1) is broad in what it covers and leaves the manner of publication to the Central Government. The only express bar is the penalty bar in sub-section (2), and it is a timing bar rather than a prohibition: once the appeal period under section 356 or 357 has expired without an appeal, or an appeal has been disposed of, publication may proceed. It does not extend to particulars of proceedings or prosecutions that are not a penalty imposed under the Act. Sub-section (3) is discretionary and adds the individuals behind the entity to the assessee's name rather than replacing it.
A penalty is imposed on a firm. The Central Government may not publish the firm's name for that penalty while the time to appeal under section 356 or 357 is running, nor while an appeal is pending; once the period expires without an appeal, or the appeal is disposed of, publication may be made. If the Central Government is of the opinion that the circumstances justify it, the partners' names may also be published under sub-section (3).
A taxpayer files or applies for nothing under this section — it is a power exercised by the Central Government, and you encounter it only if your name and the particulars of proceedings against you are published. Its practical significance for a person facing a penalty is the timing bar tied to the appeal rights under sections 356 and 357.
it may publish such names and particulars in such manner as it thinks fit
No publication under this section shall be made for any penalty imposed under this Act, until the time for filing an appeal under section 356 or 357 has expired and no appeal has been filed, or if an appeal is filed, it has been disposed of.
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.