https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=25277 The Income-tax Act, 1961 does not, in the absence of a notification under section 138(2), expressly or impliedly bar a civil court from summoning income-tax assessment records. However, the power to compel production is discretionary and must be exercised judicially. Where section 138 provides a specific statutory route for obtaining information, a party should ordinarily exhaust that remedy first, and the court may consider whether the whole assessment record is needed, whether the assessee is willing to produce it, and whether an application under section 138(1)(b) has been made. Direct summons without using the statutory mechanism will usually not justify compulsory production. en-us Fri, 31 Oct 1986 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:26:07 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=25277 The Income-tax Act, 1961 does not, in the absence of a notification under section 138(2), expressly or impliedly bar a civil court from summoning income-tax assessment records. However, the power to compel production is discretionary and must be exercised judicially. Where section 138 provides a specific statutory route for obtaining information, a party should ordinarily exhaust that remedy first, and the court may consider whether the whole assessment record is needed, whether the assessee is willing to produce it, and whether an application under section 138(1)(b) has been made. Direct summons without using the statutory mechanism will usually not justify compulsory production. Case-Laws Income Tax Fri, 31 Oct 1986 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=25277