Statutory privilege in income-tax records survives repeal for pre-1964 documents, but later filings lost confidentiality protection.

A confidentiality provision governing income-tax assessment records was treated as creating a statutory privilege and corresponding obligation, so its repeal or omission did not destroy protection already attached to documents filed or assessment orders completed before 1 April 1964. Under section 6(c) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, that accrued protection survived unless later legislation showed a contrary intention. Records filed or produced on or before 31 March 1964 therefore remained immune from compulsory court production, while documents filed or produced after that date were no longer covered because the section 137 prohibition had been omitted.

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Issues: Whether income-tax assessment records filed or produced before the omission of section 137 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 on 1 April 1964 remained protected from disclosure and production in court, and whether documents filed or produced after that date could still be summoned.

Analysis: Sections 54 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 and 137 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 imposed confidentiality on assessment records and prohibited disclosure by public servants and compulsory production before courts. The Court held that this confidentiality created a statutory privilege and corresponding obligation within section 6(c) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, so the repeal or omission of the provision did not destroy the protection already attached to documents filed or assessment records completed before 1 April 1964. The Court declined to accept the contrary view that the provisions were merely procedural and held that the later legislation did not evince an intention to take away the accrued protection. Records filed or assessment orders completed after 1 April 1964 stood on a different footing because the prohibition under section 137 had been omitted and no corresponding bar survived against court process.

Conclusion: Documents filed or produced on or before 31 March 1964 remained protected and could not be compelled to be produced in court, while documents filed or produced after that date were not protected and could be summoned.

Ratio Decidendi: A confidentiality provision that creates a statutory privilege and corresponding obligation in relation to income-tax assessment records survives repeal or omission under section 6(c) of the General Clauses Act, 1897 unless the later legislation shows a contrary intention; however, records created after the repeal take no such protection from the repealed provision.

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