Rule 149 — Procedure to requisition services under section 247(5) and to make a reference under section 247(9). Made under s.247, s.514 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 149 gives effect to Section 247 and Section 514 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
Sub-rule (1) empowers a Principal Chief Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Director General or Director General to approve two kinds of person: any person or entity whose services may be requisitioned for the purposes of section 247(5)(b), and the Valuation Officer, a person registered under section 514, or any person or entity or registered valuer to whom a reference may be made for the purposes of section 247(9). Approval may be given on an application by that person, on a reference made by a Joint Director, Joint Commissioner, Additional Director, Additional Commissioner, Director, Commissioner, Principal Director or Principal Commissioner, or on the authority's own motion.
Sub-rule (2) allows the authorised officer referred to in section 247(5) or (9) to requisition the services of, or make a reference to, one or more of the persons so approved.
Sub-rules (3) and (4) govern the application: it is made in Form No. 85, and must be disposed of by the approving authority within six months from the end of the month in which it is made, either granting approval or rejecting it.
Sub-rule (5) allows the approving authority, on granting approval, to issue a Designated Approval Number to the person, entity or registered valuer.
Sub-rule (6) provides the escape from the panel. Where the authorised officer considers it necessary or expedient, he may requisition the services of or make a reference to a person, entity or registered valuer who is not approved under sub-rule (1), after recording reasons, and must obtain the approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Director General or Director General within thirty days of such requisition.
Sub-rule (7) defines "registered valuer" for the rule as any valuer registered by or under any law in force. Sub-rule (8) defines "Designated Approval Number" as a number issued under sub-rule (5) having alphanumeric characters.
Section 247 lets a search party requisition outside services and make valuation references, but says nothing about who those outsiders may be. Leaving the choice to the officer in the middle of a search would put an unvetted person inside the operation. The rule builds a standing panel approved in advance by a senior authority, with an identifying number, and confines off-panel use to cases where reasons are recorded and senior approval is obtained within a short window.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to dispose of an application for approval | Six months | From the end of the month in which the application in Form No. 85 is made; disposal means granting approval or rejecting the application | Sub-rule (4) |
| Time to obtain approval for using an unapproved person | Thirty days | Of the requisition or reference made to a person, entity or registered valuer not approved under sub-rule (1), and only after recording reasons | Sub-rule (6) |
There are two routes onto the panel and only one of them starts with the outsider: the authority may approve on an application in Form No. 85, but equally on a reference from a listed officer or on its own motion, so a person can be approved without ever having applied. The six-month period in sub-rule (4) attaches to the application route alone. Sub-rule (6) is the provision that decides contested cases — an off-panel requisition is not void, but it is conditional on reasons recorded at the time and on senior approval obtained within thirty days of the requisition, so the sequence is act, record, then regularise, and the thirty days run from the requisition and not from the search or the report. The Designated Approval Number under sub-rule (5) is permissive — the authority may issue one — so its absence does not by itself show that a person is unapproved. Note that "registered valuer" is defined widely in sub-rule (7) as any valuer registered by or under any law in force, which is broader than a person registered under section 514.
A valuation firm applies in Form No. 85 on 10 March for approval under sub-rule (1). The Principal Chief Commissioner must grant or reject the approval within six months from the end of March, that is by 30 September, and on approval may issue the firm a Designated Approval Number. In a search two months later the authorised officer needs a specialist in an asset class no approved person covers; he records his reasons and requisitions an outside expert under sub-rule (6), and must obtain the Principal Chief Commissioner's approval within thirty days of that requisition.
A valuer or specialist meets it as the Form No. 85 approval process and the Designated Approval Number that follows. A taxpayer meets it indirectly, in the valuation report or expert material relied on after a search, where the question is whether the person who produced it was approved under sub-rule (1) or covered by sub-rule (6).
shall be disposed of by the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Chief Commissioner or the Principal Director General or the Director General, as the case may be, within six months from the end of the month in which such application is made
after recording reasons for the same, and within a period of thirty days of such requisition, obtain approval