This week, FM Nirmala Sitharaman defended the provisions of the new income tax bill, which allows an authorised officer to “break open the lock of any door, box, locker, safe, almirah, or other receptacle for exercising the powers conferred by clause (i), to enter and search any building, place, etc., where the keys thereof or the access to such building, place, etc., is not available; or gain access by overriding the access code to any said computer system or virtual digital space, where the access code thereof is not available.”
Clause 247 of the Income Tax Bill, which will be effective starting April 1, 2026, allows authorised officers to do so only if they have information and reason to believe that the individual in concern owns undisclosed income, property, or documents that they would willfully not reveal in a bid to evade income tax.
Defending the need to include digital spaces and virtual realms under the ambit of search and seizure for income tax purposes, Sitharaman highlighted that such provisions are not new and currently exist under Section 132 of the I-T Act, 1961. However, presently, the section only covers physical assets and books of accounts, leaving digital assets and documents out of its coverage.
Noting how WhatsApp messages had already helped the government uncover Rs 200 crore worth of unaccounted funds linked to crypto, Sitharaman also underlined how Google Maps history and Instagram accounts have been instrumental in identifying cash hideouts and “benami” properties like luxury cars.
