2002 (2) TMI 24

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....nd loss account for the year ending March 31, 1996, the balance-sheet as on March 31, 1996, and March 31, 1998, of the first respondent firm and also the documents showing the computation of total income and acknowledgment of Sri Syed Kaleemuddin, partner, of Modem New Enterprises, for the assessment year commencing on April 1, 1995. The petitioners herein submit that they filed an application for certified copies of the above mentioned documents before the Commissioner of Income-tax and the said Commissioner declined to furnish the same on October 29, 2001, on the ground that it is not in the public interest to furnish the said information. The petitioners submit that the documents for which they have made an application for certified c....

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....ome-tax refused to issue certified copies as there is no public interest under section 138 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The said section is extracted for ready reference: "138. Disclosure of information respecting assessees.-(1) (a) The Board or any other income-tax authority specified by it by a general or special order in this behalf may furnish or cause to be furnished to,- (i) any officer, authority or body performing any functions under any law relating to the imposition of any tax, duty or cess, or to dealings in foreign exchange as defined in section 2(d) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (7 of 1947); or (ii) such officer, authority or body performing functions under any other law as the Central Government may, if....

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....s that the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner may furnish or cause to furnish any information asked for, if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest and his decision in that behalf shall be final and shall not be called for in any court of law. However, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the trial court did not consider the law laid down by the apex court in the case of Dagi Rain Pindi Lall v. Trilok Chand Jain [1992] 194 ITR 228, wherein the apex court after considering the amendments made to the said section held that finality attached to the order of the Commissioner under section 138(1)(b) of the Act has no relevance to the exercise of powers by a court to summon the production of documents in a case pending bef....