Voluntary disclosure immunity does not cover search-based declarations; section 14 disclosures cannot be excluded from surtax computation.

Section 8 of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Act, 1976 applies only to "voluntarily disclosed income" under section 3 and does not extend to disclosures made after search and seizure under section 14(1). The Act treats a search-based declaration as a separate and narrower category, and cross-references to sections 4 and 5 for procedural purposes do not transform it into a voluntary declaration or enlarge the statutory immunity. Accordingly, an amount disclosed under section 14(1) could not be excluded from total income for computing chargeable profits under the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act, 1964, and the exclusion allowed by the Commissioner (Appeals) was set aside.

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Issues: Whether an amount disclosed under section 14(1) of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Act, 1976, after search and seizure, could be excluded from the total income for computing chargeable profits under the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act, 1964 by invoking section 8 of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Act, 1976.

Analysis: Section 8 applies to "voluntarily disclosed income" and the statutory definitions of that expression and of "declarant" are traced to section 3 of the Act. The structure of the Act shows that section 3 covers voluntary declarations made without compulsion, while section 14 deals with declarations made after search and seizure and grants a distinct, narrower immunity. The procedural cross-references in section 14 to sections 4 and 5 do not convert a declaration under section 14 into a declaration under section 3. The two forms of disclosure are treated differently throughout the Act, and the use of the same general heading in the prescribed forms does not alter the statutory scheme or the meaning of the defined expressions.

Conclusion: Section 8 does not apply to a declaration made under section 14(1), and the amount so disclosed cannot be excluded from the assessee's total income for computing surtax. The exclusion directed by the Commissioner (Appeals) was and was set aside; the Revenue succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A declaration made under the search-and-seizure provision is not "voluntarily disclosed income" within the meaning assigned by the Act, and procedural linkage to voluntary-disclosure forms or payment machinery does not extend the statutory immunity beyond its defined scope.

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