Section 54 income-tax confidentiality does not bar assessee-produced returns or statements from evidence and cross-examination.

Section 54 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 bars disclosure by income-tax officials and prevents compulsion to produce confidential departmental records, but it does not exclude a certified copy of an income-tax return or a statement when produced by the assessee or a person claiming through him. Such documents, if produced by the maker or representative-in-interest, are admissible in evidence and may be used for cross-examination. A prior authority was distinguished because it concerned compelling the department to produce records, not production by the assessee himself. The objection under section 54 therefore failed, and the documents were treated as admissible.

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Issues: Whether certified copies of an income-tax return and a statement made in income-tax proceedings, when produced by the assessee or his representative-in-interest, are barred from evidence by section 54 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: Section 54 creates a bar against disclosure by income-tax officials and forbids compulsion of production of confidential records by the department, but the prohibition does not extend to a document obtained and produced by the assessee himself or by a person claiming through him. The authorities on assessment orders and returns recognise that such documents may be produced by the maker or representative-in-interest, and once admissible in evidence they may also be used for cross-examination. The earlier decision relied upon was distinguished because it concerned a direction to compel the income-tax authorities to produce records, not production by the assessee himself.

Conclusion: The objection under section 54 was not sustainable, and the certified copies were admissible in evidence and usable for cross-examination.

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