Section 142(2C) of the Income Tax Act
Income-tax Act, 2025: s.268
Section 142(2C) falls under section 142 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which corresponds to section 268 (Inquiry before assessment) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read section 268 of the 2025 Act
Correspondence checked against the ICAI tabular mapping of the two Acts and the BharatTax.co section commentary.
The decision most relied on for Section 142(2C) is Sheo Narain Jaiswal v. Income-tax Officer (176 ITR 352), cited in 38 of the 83 judgments on BharatTax that turn on this section.
Leading authorities on Section 142(2C)
An Assessing Officer's assumption of jurisdiction under Section 147 is invalid if the officer does not independently apply their mind but merely acts at the behest of a superior authority. The satisfaction recorded must be independent, not borrowed or dictated.
When a specific authority is designated to record satisfaction on an issue, that authority alone must apply their independent mind. Compliance with this requirement is mandatory before issuing a notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act.
An order for special audit under Section 142(2C) of the Income Tax Act must be passed within the prescribed time, including any extensions. An assessment order based on a special audit report submitted beyond the permissible period is void.
An amending act can be purely clarificatory, intended to clarify a meaning already implicit in the principal Act. The word 'and' can be interpreted as 'or' in statutory interpretation if it leads to unintended results.
