Right to copy seized books under income tax law is limited to the person in custody or an authorised representative.

Section 132(9) of the Income-tax Act permits copies of seized books of account or extracts only to the person from whose custody the books were seized, or to that person's duly authorised representative. A third party who was not in custody of the seized records cannot claim that statutory right. The entitlement, on the stated facts, remained with the firm's partners whose premises were searched, and they could exercise it without being required to file an undertaking that the books belonged to them.

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Issues: Whether, under sub-section (9) of Section 132 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the right to make copies of seized books of account and take extracts therefrom extends only to the person from whose custody the books were seized, and whether such copies can be taken without requiring an undertaking that the seized books belonged to that person.

Analysis: Sub-section (9) of Section 132 confers the right to make copies or take extracts only on the person from whose custody the books of account are seized, or on a representative duly authorised by such person. Since the petitioner was not the person from whose custody the books were seized, he was not entitled to claim the benefit of that provision. The entitlement, if any, rested with the partners of the firm from whose premises the books were seized, and they could not be compelled to furnish an undertaking as a condition for exercising that statutory right.

Conclusion: The claim of the petitioner was rejected, and the direction was confined to permitting the firm's partners or their authorised representatives to take copies of the seized books without insisting on any undertaking.

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