ASHWIN S.

IRS
ROBIN BANSAL IRS
 If resistance in entry then assistance of police to be taken.
 Breaking open of the premises can only be done in 132 warrant and not in the
case of survey under Section 133A .
 Breaking open has to be done in the presence of witnesses and a note to be made
in this regard signed by the AO and witnesses.
 If the premise is locked then instructions of control room to be taken for further
instructions. The premises in the meanwhile has to be secured.
 If locked premise has occupants inside then entry to be gained as soon as possible
by breaking open.
 If premise is occupied by persons not named in the warrant then instructions of
control room to be taken. Enquiries should be made to know the present
whereabouts of the person or whether the person occupying the premise are
connected to the main person.
 If warrant is found in the name of a dead person then name of legal heirs to be
ascertained and reported to the control room. The control of the premise has to be
obtained. However search not to be commenced till the correct warrant is received
 Warrant of authorization to be shown immediately after entering the premise and
signature to be obtained. Personal search and IDs to be shown if demanded by the
assessee
 Witnesses required in case of search warrant only
 Order under Rule 112 to be issued by the AO
 Non compliance with the order entails penalty under IPC
 Witnesses should be independent witnesses
 Assessee objections to the witnesses if any should be taken into
account
 Search should be commenced only after the appointment of
witnesses
 Change of witness
 Witnesses signature to be obtained on the warrant, Panchnama,
statements under Section 132(4) and on all impounded
documents/assets and Annexures made during the course of
search
 Pages should be numbered consecutively
 Blank pages should be cancelled and numbered
 Loose papers seized should be serially numbered,
arranged in bundles in a folder and sealed
 Separate inventory should be made for books and
documents found and seized/not seized
 The format for inventorisation of books of accounts is
Annexure A
 The Annexure has to be signed by AO, party and both
the witnesses
 In course of survey an impounding order is also
required to be made before impounding the books of
accounts
 Inform control room of computers/mobiles found and
requisition the services of technical person for cloning
 No handling of the system by the team till the technical team
arrives
 Turning of wifi and other communication networks to prevent
tampering of the evidence by the assessee from a remote
location
 Mobile phones to be immediately put in airplane mode
 Cash found should be carefully counted.
 Inventory should contain detail like denomination of notes,
number of notes and value. Details to be recorded both in
number and in words.
 Inventory of cash found is to be made in Annexure C
 Only unaccounted cash is to be seized. Acknowledgement of the
cash that is returned back to the assessee has to be taken on
the Annexure. The same has to be incorporated in the statement
also.
 No cash seizure is possible in the case of survey
 If unaccounted cash in excess of 10 lakhs is found during the
course of survey the same should be immediately informed to
the control room.
 The Annexure has to be signed by AO, party and both the
witnesses
• The control room should be informed for sending the registered valuer after
rummaging the premise
• Valuation has to be carried out in the presence of party and the witnesses
• Jewellery can be seized only after conclusively establishing that the same is from
the undisclosed income. The same has to be incorporated in the statement
• Relaxation : 500 grams for married lady , 250 gram for unmarried lady and 100
grams for male members. That the relaxation of permissible limits of jewellery is
given has to be recorded in the statement
• Detailed inventory of the jewellery found and seized to be made in Annexure J
• Acknowledgement of the jewellery that is returned back to the assessee has to be
taken on the Annexure J and the same has to be incorporated in the statement
also
• Before seizure of the jewellery the same should be carefully placed in packages
which are serially numbered. Seals to be placed after securing the ornaments and
the signatures of AO, party and witnesses to be obtained on the package.
• In the case of jeweler the jewllery would constitute stock in trade of the business.
The jewellery found and valued should be compared with the stock register. No
seizure of stock in trade can be made under any circumstance
• Similar exercise is to be carried out for bullion. No relaxation is permissible for
bullion. Bullion to be inventorised as per Annexure B
 Information regarding the bank lockers has to be
compulsorily obtained in the preliminary statement
 Keys to be obtained immediately and are to be inventorised
and seized in Annexure O
 Stop operation of the lockers to be issued immediately and
reported to the control room
 Separate warrant is to be obtained for opening of bank
lockers. 132(3) to be issued in case operation of locker is not
possible
 Panchnama is a document of considerable evidentiary value
and should be prepared with due care and caution.
 Panchnama should mention all the events of the search in
the same sequence in which they occurred
 Panchnama contain details like name of the person in whose
case the warrant is issued, names and designation of AO and
officials who assisted the AO, names and addresses of the
witnesses, time of commencement and conclusion of search,
name of the persons whose statements were taken etc
 Panchnama has to be prepared even if nothing is found or
seized in the course of the search
 Inventory of books of accounts and documents
found and seized as per Annexure A
 Inventory of bullion as per Annexure B
 Inventory of cash found and seized as per
Annexure C
 Inventory of Jewellery found as per Annexure J
 Inventory of Other valuable articles, locker keys,
FDRs as per Annexure O
 It should be signed by AO, party and both the
witnesses
 The timings of the commencement of the search
should be the time when panches arrive and not
the strike time
 One copy of the Panchnama should be provided to
the party and the acknowledgement of the same is
to be taken on the other copy
THANK YOU