BENGALURU
The Karnataka High Court has clarified that search and seizure powers under Section 132 of the Income-tax Act are “person-centric” and not “premises-centric,” while restoring notices issued by the Income Tax Department under Section 153C of the Act.
A division bench comprising Justices SG Pandit and KV Aravind passed the order while allowing a writ appeal filed by the Income Tax Department.
The case pertained to a search conducted on September 14, 2017, at premises linked to CR Ram Mohan Raju based on suspicion that books of accounts, documents and valuables belonging to K Narayan Raju were kept there.
Following the search, the assessing officer of Narayan Raju recorded that certain seized documents belonged to Mohan Raju and transferred the material to his assessing officer. Subsequently, notices under Section 153C were issued to Mohan Raju for assessment years 2011-12 to 2018-19.
The notices were challenged on the grounds that since Mohan Raju’s premises had been searched, he should have been treated as the “searched person” under the law.
However, the High Court rejected the argument and observed that the warrant of authorisation under Section 132 is fundamentally directed against a specific individual and not merely the location searched. The bench held that the premises where the search is conducted are incidental, while the satisfaction regarding the concerned person remains the central requirement for invoking search powers under the Income-tax Act.