Section 137 - Omitted

Confidentiality of tax returns preserved, with enumerated statutory exceptions allowing limited disclosure for enforcement and legitimate tax administration.

Confidentiality of information under the Income-tax Act made particulars in returns, accounts, documents, evidence and assessment records confidential, prohibiting public servants from disclosing or producing them in court except as the Act permitted. The provision enumerated specific, narrowly framed exceptions permitting disclosure for prosecutions, execution of the Act, service of notices or recovery, disclosure to audit and investigatory bodies, intergovernmental tax-relief and information exchanges, tax-levying authorities, customs and excise enforcement, electoral qualification inquiries, and specified disciplinary or inquiry processes, while preserving voluntary disclosure by the taxpayer and defining 'public servant' as one employed in execution of the Act.