ED allowed to inspect Income Tax records in FEMA probe over alleged foreign assets; DTAA secrecy not a bar

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....The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed petitions by a former state chief minister and his son seeking to prevent the Enforcement Directorate from inspecting Income Tax Department records in a chargesheet alleging their benefit from foreign assets, including a Swiss account. The court upheld lower courts' orders allowing the ED access for its FEMA investigation, holding the I-T file constitutes judicial records and that the DTAA's secrecy provisions do not bar disclosure in public court proceedings. The court stressed the ED's locus to inspect records for investigation and prohibited public dissemination of the documents absent lawful permission.....