Prosecution to be at instance of Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner
Section 279 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 deals with prosecution to be at instance of Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner. A person shall not be proceeded against for an offence under section 275A, section 275B, section 276, section 276A, section 276B, section 276BB, section 276C, section 276CC, section 276D, section 277 , section 277A or section 278 except with the previous sanction of the Principal Commissioner or Com The Act came into force on 01 Apr 1962. Repealed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 with effect from 1 April 2026, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
(1) A person shall not be proceeded against for an offence under section 275A, section 275B, section 276, section 276A, section 276B, section 276BB, section 276C, section 276CC, section 276D, section 277 , section 277A or section 278 except with the previous sanction of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner or Joint Commissioner (Appeals) or Commissioner (Appeals) or the appropriate authority:
Provided that the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or, as the case may be, Principal Director General or Director General may issue such instructions or directions to the aforesaid income-tax authorities as he may deem fit for institution of proceedings under this sub-section.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "appropriate authority" shall have the same meaning as in clause (c) of section 269UA. (1A) A person shall not be proceeded against for an offence under section 276C or section 277 in relation to the assessment for an assessment year in respect of which the penalty imposed or imposable on him under section 270A or clause (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 271 has been reduced or waived by an order under section 273A.
(2) Any offence under this Chapter may, either before or after the institution of proceedings, be compounded by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or a Principal Director General or Director General.
(3) Where any proceeding has been taken against any person under sub-section (1), any statement made or account or other document produced by such person before any of the income-tax authorities specified in clauses (a) to (g) of section 116 shall not be inadmissible as evidence for the purpose of such proceedings merely on the ground that such statement was made or such account or other document was produced in the belief that the penalty imposable would be reduced or waived, under section 273A or that the offence in respect of which such proceeding was taken would be compounded.
(4) The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of granting sanction under sub-section (1) or compounding under sub-section (2), so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by—
(a) eliminating the interface between the income-tax authority and the assessee or any other person to the extent technologically feasible;
(b) optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation;
(c) introducing a team-based sanction to proceed against, or for compounding of, an offence, with dynamic jurisdiction.
(5) The Central Government may, for the purpose of giving effect to the scheme made under sub-section (4), by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any of the provisions of this Act shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as may be specified in the notification: Providedthat no direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2022.
(6) Every notification issued under sub-section (4) and sub-section (5) shall, as soon as may be after the notification is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament.
Explanation.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the power of the Board to issue orders, instructions or directions under this Act shall include and shall be deemed always to have included the power to issue instructions or directions (including instructions or directions to obtain the previous approval of the Board) to other income-tax authorities for the proper composition of offences under this section.
Certain offences to be non-cognizable.
Section 279, The Income-tax Act, 1961 (Act 43 of 1961).
Now in the Income-tax Act
INCOME-TAX-ACT-2025 491 Prosecution to be at instance of Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner Official correspondence
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
- s. 116 Income-tax authorities
- s. 269UA Definitions
- s. 270A Penalty for under-reporting and misreporting of income
- s. 271 Failure to furnish returns, comply with notices, concealment of income, etc
- s. 273A Power to reduce or waive penalty, etc., in certain cases
- s. 275A Contravention of order made during search action
- s. 275B Failure to afford facility for inspection of books of account during search
- s. 276 Removal, concealment, transfer or delivery of property to thwart tax recovery
- s. 276A Failure to comply with the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 178
- s. 276BB Failure to pay tax collected at source
- s. 276D Failure to comply with a direction of special audit or valuation
- s. 277 False statement in verification, etc
- s. 277A Falsification of books of account or document, etc
- s. 278 Abetment of false return, etc
Referred to by 9
- Finance Act s. 22 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 30 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 47 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 70 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 108 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 62 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 110 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 125 Amendment of section 279
- Finance Act s. 71 Amendment of section 279
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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K C Builders vs The Asstt Commnr of Income Tax
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, which is the final court on facts, finds that there is no concealment of income and cancels penalties levied under Section 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act, the criminal prosecution under Section 276C of the Act must be automatically quashed. The finding of the Appellate Tribunal is conclusive and binding on the criminal court. Since the basis for criminal prosecution (concealment of income) has been negated by the Tribunal's final order, no offence survives under the Income Tax Act, and the criminal proceedings cannot be sustained. The Assessing Officer has no alternative except to cancel the penalty following the Tribunal's order, and the criminal court cannot proceed with prosecution after such cancellation.
On this section: Sanction for prosecution; cited regarding sanction ordered by Commissioner of Income Tax for criminal prosecution
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Nasiruddin S/o Paplusab Bagawan v. Income Tax Department
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Body-dated 7 Feb 2022 Final Order: prosecution launched after s.279(1) sanction for alleged wilful failure to file returns; Court held offence is compoundable under s.279 and granted one further opportunity to apply for compounding within 6 weeks, with prosecution to continue if not availed — partly allowing WPs. (276CC itself ABSENT from sections.csv — mapped to existing empty s.279 only.) Body date matched (order-1.pdf).
On this section: Teaching isolate on s.279 sanction and compounding opportunity for tax prosecutions.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 279
What have the courts held on Section 279 of the Income-tax Act?
K C Builders vs The Asstt Commnr of Income Tax (28 Jan 2004) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Sanction for prosecution; cited regarding sanction ordered by Commissioner of Income Tax for criminal prosecution. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below, 1 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2004 to 2022.
How do I find court cases under Section 279 of the Income-tax Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Income Tax Act 279, section 279 Income Tax Act, section 279 of the Income-tax Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with K C Builders vs The Asstt Commnr of Income Tax (28 Jan 2004).
What should I read with Section 279 of the Income-tax Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 116 (Income-tax authorities), section 269UA (Definitions), section 270A (Penalty for under-reporting and misreporting of income), section 271 (Failure to furnish returns, comply with notices, concealment of income, etc), and on 10 further provisions, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 9 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 April 2026 the provision to read is Income-tax Act, 2025, section 491 (Prosecution to be at instance of Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 279 of the Income-tax Act come into force?
Section 279 of the Income-tax Act, cited as Income Tax Act 279, came into force on 01 Apr 1962, having been enacted on 13 Sep 1961. It is no longer in force.
Other sections of this Act
- 10. Incomes not included in total income30885 words
- 2. Definitions11419 words
- 80HHF. Deduction in respect of profits and gains from export or transfer of film software, etc7148 words
- 80-IB. Deduction in respect of profits and gains from certain industrial undertakings other than infrastructure development undertakings5474 words
- 155. Other amendments5451 words
- 139. Return of income5400 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Recovered from the consolidated text published by the Income Tax Department, as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. India Code holds no record of this Act in any form. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.