Comparison of section 247 "Search and seizure." between the Income-Tax Act, 2025 (as passed) and the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 (as originally introduced)

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....ed: taxpayers (individuals and entities), authorised officers, evaluating authorities and third parties holding electronic records or assets. Effective date or decision date: Not stated in the document. Background & Scope Statutory hooks: Clause 247 of the Income Tax Bill, 2025; cross-references within the clause to section 246(1), section 268(1), the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, section 241, section 413 and section 514. The clause covers search and seizure powers where the competent authority, based on information, believes that summoned or noticed persons will not produce relevant books, documents or electronic information, or where undisclosed income or property is present. Defini....

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....opying of documents including from computer systems, inventory and seizure (excluding stock-in-trade), and provision for deemed seizure orders where physical seizure is impracticable. Interpretation The text shows legislative intent to equip tax authorities with robust tools to access both physical and electronic evidence, including remote/virtual repositories. The cross-reference to the Information Technology Act for definitions indicates an intent to anchor electronic evidence concepts to existing IT law definitions. The inclusion of presumptions indicates an intent to ease evidentiary burden for the revenue once material is found during a search. The reference to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 suggests an effort to harmon....

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....* Example 2: A large sculpture suspected to be undeclared wealth located at a taxpayer's premises cannot be removed due to size; the authorised officer may serve an order of deemed seizure (clause (1)(viii)) preventing the owner from parting with it. * Example 3: During a search, several external hard drives and cloud-storage credentials are found; the authorised officer can mark identification, make copies of data, and rely upon presumptions that the contents belong to the possessor and are true, subject to rebuttal. Interplay The clause cross-references the Information Technology Act (for definitions), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for search/seizure procedures), section 413 (rules for provisional attachment), and ....

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....does not expressly reference virtual digital space or specific IT Act sub-clauses. * Practical impact: Document 2 appears broader and more detailed on digital sources and expressly contemplates virtual/remote storage, which increases the practical reach of search powers to cloud or off-site electronic repositories. * Power to override access codes/virtual spaces and breaking locks: Document 2 explicitly states that access may be gained by "overriding the access code" or entering "virtual digital space." Document 1 uses "override the access code to any computer system" but is less explicit about virtual digital spaces. * Practical impact: Document 2 may be read to give clearer authority to override access to remote/virtual environments....

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....ht and rebuttal. * Requisition of external assistance: Document 2 refers to approval and procedure "as prescribed" and uses slightly different syntax regarding requisition compliance. Document 1 contains substantially similar provisions but includes a catch-all for persons/entities approved by specified senior officers and for compliance duties. * Practical impact: Differences appear stylistic; practical effect is minimal unless read with enabling rules which are "Not stated in the document." * Reference to other statutes: Document 1 explicitly imports provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for search and seizure application "so far as may be". Document 2 contains identical cross-application. * Practical impact: ....