Section 246 - Power regarding discovery, production of evidence, etc
Identify the person, event, period, conditions, authority, evidence and consequence before applying the provision.
Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Updated 9 October 2026
Current law and effective date
Section 246 is controlled against the consolidated Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. The Act and Income-tax Rules, 2026 operate from 1 April 2026; earlier tax years and saved proceedings require the repeal-and-savings framework rather than automatic migration.
Primary statute: Income Tax Department consolidated Act | Rules: Notified Income-tax Rules, 2026
2-minute decode
Identify the person, event, period, conditions, authority, evidence and consequence before applying the provision.
Who should use this section
Taxpayers and authorised officers dealing with power regarding discovery, production of evidence, etc., together with advisers who need to verify jurisdiction, authority, service, evidence, procedural safeguards and the consequence of action under section 246.
How section 246 works in practice
Section 246 sits in Chapter 14 (Tax Administration) and should be read as a connected rule rather than an isolated label. The practical question is whether the facts actually satisfy the trigger for “Power regarding discovery, production of evidence, etc.”. A section 246 procedural file should be capable of standing on its own. For section 246, record the statutory trigger, competent authority, jurisdiction order, date and mode of service, material supplied or seized, responses, hearings, approvals and every limitation date. For power regarding discovery, production of evidence, etc., defects in authority or process can matter independently of the underlying tax computation. The operating controls are: Record the applicable person, event and tax year; Link every conclusion to statutory conditions and primary evidence; Track prescribed form, authority, limitation and downstream consequence. A reviewer should record why record the applicable person, event and tax year., because that conclusion drives the downstream computation, reporting or procedural consequence.
Old-law bridge
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The old-law bridge is a research aid, not an automatic precedent transfer. Match the old provision, the current section, saved proceedings and effective dates before importing an older interpretation.
Current-law control
No separate Finance Act 2026 delta is recorded for section 246 in the current-law register. The page therefore follows the consolidated Act wording and the current Rules mapping, with the official consolidated statute controlling if a later notification or amendment affects the provision.
Professional alert
Record the applicable person, event and tax year. Link every conclusion to statutory conditions and primary evidence. Track prescribed form, authority, limitation and downstream consequence.
Connected Income-tax Rules, 2026 and Forms
| Rule | Current control | Form |
|---|---|---|
| No provision-specific Rule/Form is directly mapped in this tranche. Apply the section itself and test any separate Rule only where another provision expressly cross-refers to it. | ||
Worked application
A taxpayer encounters an issue concerning power regarding discovery, production of evidence, etc.. The working paper maps the facts, statutory conditions and prescribed procedure before any position is taken.
Evidence / compliance checklist
- Record the applicable person, event and tax year.
- Link every conclusion to statutory conditions and primary evidence.
- Track prescribed form, authority, limitation and downstream consequence.
- Preserve authority, jurisdiction and service evidence for section 246.
- Maintain a dated event log for notices, access, seizure/requisition and release steps under section 246.
- Hash or otherwise preserve integrity of electronic records relied on for section 246 proceedings.
Common mistake
Responding on merits before checking whether section 246 was invoked by the correct authority through the correct procedure. For section 246, jurisdiction, authorisation, service, recorded reasons, evidence handling and limitation should be reviewed before substantive response strategy.
Recommended approach
For section 246, create a one-page legal-to-evidence matrix. For section 246, put the current statutory condition in the first column, the transaction or procedural fact in the second, the supporting document in the third, and the tax/procedural consequence in the fourth. The first checkpoint should be: Record the applicable person, event and tax year. This section 246 matrix makes reviewable differences visible before a return, opinion, notice response or litigation position is finalised.
Thresholds, rates, periods and timing checkpoints
- Section 246 has no standalone numeric checkpoint extracted for this register; use the official consolidated text for any amount, period or rate appearing in a fact-specific sub-clause.
Related provisions and interaction map
Section 246 interacts with the broader tax-administration framework: appointment/control, jurisdiction, transfer, faceless operation, evidence powers, search/requisition and asset/document handling. For section 246, procedural chronology and authority records are therefore as important as substantive tax calculations.
Direct navigation / cross-checks: section 245, section 247
Validated statutory core - official current source controlled
Text-status note: This page presents a validated operative statutory core rather than pretending a summary is verbatim law. Use the linked official consolidated Act before quoting sub-section language in a filing, opinion or litigation document.
Primary-source trail
Statute: Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by Finance Act, 2026
Rules: Income-tax Rules, 2026
Law navigation: Income Tax Department 2025 Act / Rules hub
Quoting note: The official consolidated Act controls verbatim legislative language.
FAQs
Does an old Income-tax Act, 1961 decision automatically decide section 246?
No. The old-law bridge helps research, but transferability depends on materially matching language, transition rules and any Finance Act 2026 change.
Which source should be quoted in advice or litigation?
Quote the official consolidated statute for the relevant tax year. Where this page presents a validated statutory core rather than complete verbatim text, use the official Act for sub-section wording.
What should be checked immediately before acting?
Re-check the current statutory text, the section-specific Rule/Form mapping and any notification or court order relevant to the exact facts. Section 246 should not be applied from a historic section number or a generic tax summary alone.