https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=9045 After omission of the earlier confidentiality bar under section 137 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and substitution of section 138, assessment orders and returns were no longer protected by a statutory prohibition against court process. Section 138(1)(b) operates only as an enabling provision allowing discretionary disclosure by the Commissioner in the public interest; it does not create a privilege against production in court. On that basis, the civil court retained power to summon the Income-tax Officer for the records sought, and refusal to do so was unsustainable. The revision succeeded, the impugned order was set aside, and the application for production of the income-tax records was remitted for disposal according to law. en-us Mon, 03 Jul 1972 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:06:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=9045 After omission of the earlier confidentiality bar under section 137 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and substitution of section 138, assessment orders and returns were no longer protected by a statutory prohibition against court process. Section 138(1)(b) operates only as an enabling provision allowing discretionary disclosure by the Commissioner in the public interest; it does not create a privilege against production in court. On that basis, the civil court retained power to summon the Income-tax Officer for the records sought, and refusal to do so was unsustainable. The revision succeeded, the impugned order was set aside, and the application for production of the income-tax records was remitted for disposal according to law. Case-Laws Income Tax Mon, 03 Jul 1972 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=9045