s.132(4) — Statement on oath during search
The power to examine a person on oath during a search, and the evidentiary weight of what is said.
Income-tax Act, 1961
s.132(4)
Income-tax Act, 2025
s.247(6)
In force from 1 April 2026, but s.536(2)(c) preserves the 1961 Act for tax years beginning before that date.
In short
Section 132(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 empowers an authorised officer to examine on oath any person found in possession or control of books, documents, money or valuables during a search, and provides that the statement may be used in evidence in any proceeding under the Act. The statement has evidentiary value but is not conclusive: an admission may be retracted, and where an addition rests on an admission alone without corroboration from seized material, it stands on materially weaker ground than one supported by documents. The corresponding provision in the Income-tax Act, 2025 is section 247(6).
What the provision does
Permits examination on oath during the course of a search, and makes the resulting statement usable in evidence in any proceeding under the Act. By the Explanation, the examination is not confined to the books, documents or assets found in the search; it may extend to all matters relevant to any investigation connected with any proceeding under the Act.
Threshold questions
- Was the statement recorded during the search, or afterwards — the provision covers the former; a later statement falls under a different power
- Was the person examined actually found in possession or control of the material
- Were the circumstances of recording such that the statement can be said to be voluntary
- Is there any corroboration in the seized material for what was admitted
In practice
The recurring disputes.
Retraction and its timing
A retraction is ordinarily tested on how promptly it was made, the reasons given, and whether the original statement finds support elsewhere. A prompt, reasoned retraction supported by the absence of corroborating material is a materially different case from a bare denial months later.
Additions resting on admission alone
Where nothing in the seized record supports the figure admitted, the admission carries the entire weight of the addition. Whether it can do so is a recurring contest, and CBDT has itself cautioned against obtaining admissions of undisclosed income without evidence.
The circumstances of recording
Statements recorded late at night, after prolonged proceedings, or without opportunity to consult records are challenged on that footing. The circumstances are part of the record and belong in it — raised at the time, not first raised in appeal.
Survey statements are not the same thing
A statement recorded during a survey under section 133A does not carry the same statutory footing as one recorded on oath under section 132(4). Additions built principally on a survey surrender are examined on that distinction.