Specific summons jurisdiction cannot be expanded by general enquiry powers; the impugned notice was quashed.

Section 131 of the Income-tax Act vested summons power only in the authorities specifically named in it, and the Assistant Director of Inspection was not included at the material time. Section 135, which conferred enquiry powers on specified officers, was treated as confined to assessment-related inquiries and not as enlarging the separate summons jurisdiction under section 131. Applying the principle that a general provision does not override a specific one, and noting the later Finance Act amendment as confirming the earlier limited scope, the notice issued by the Assistant Director was held without jurisdiction and was quashed.

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Issues: Whether the Assistant Director of Inspection had jurisdiction to issue a summons under section 131 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 by relying on section 135, and whether the impugned notice was therefore liable to be quashed.

Analysis: Section 131 specifically vested the relevant powers in the authorities named therein and did not include the Director or Assistant Director of Inspection at the material time. Section 135, though conferring upon the Director of Inspection and other specified authorities the powers of an Income-tax Officer to make enquiries, was held to relate to enquiry powers in the context of assessment or allied proceedings and not to override the specific scheme of section 131. The amendment made by section 38 of the Finance Act, 1965 was treated as confirming that the legislature had considered the earlier position to be limited to the named authorities, and the maxim generalia specialibus non derogant was applied to prevent section 135 from enlarging the jurisdiction specifically conferred by section 131.

Conclusion: The Assistant Director of Inspection had no jurisdiction under section 131, read with section 135, to issue the summons, and the notice and proceedings thereunder were quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: A general power to make enquiries under the Income-tax Act cannot be used to assume a specific statutory power conferred only on named ; a later enlargement by amendment also indicates that the earlier provision was not available to the omitted authority.

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