s.132 — Search and seizure
The power to authorise and conduct a search, and the conditions that must exist before it can be exercised.
Income-tax Act, 1961
s.132
Income-tax Act, 2025
s.247
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 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 authorises search and seizure where the competent authority, in consequence of information in its possession, has reason to believe that a summons or notice has been or would be disregarded, or that a person is in possession of money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article representing income that has not been or would not be disclosed. The reason to believe must exist before the authorisation and be based on material, though the sufficiency of that material is not ordinarily open to review. The corresponding provision in the Income-tax Act, 2025 is section 247, which extends the power expressly to computer systems — a term section 261 defines to include remote and cloud servers and "virtual digital space".
What the provision does
Empowers the competent authority to authorise entry, search, seizure of books, documents, money and valuables, placing of marks of identification, and examination on oath. It also grounds the presumptions and the subsequent assessment machinery.
Threshold questions
- Did information exist in the possession of the authorising authority before the authorisation
- Is the reason to believe recorded, and does it relate to one of the three statutory conditions
- Was the warrant issued by an authority competent to issue it, and against the right person
- Was the panchnama drawn properly, and does it record what was in fact seized
- Whether the search was concluded, since the date of conclusion drives later limitation
In practice
The recurring disputes.
The foundation of the authorisation
The existence of information and of a recorded reason to believe is justiciable, even though the adequacy of that material generally is not. Challenges are ordinarily by writ rather than in appeal.
What was actually seized
The panchnama and the seizure list define the material the assessment may be built on. Where an order relies on documents not traceable to the seizure record, that discrepancy matters.
Virtual digital space
Section 247 of the 2025 Act extends the power expressly to computer systems, including overriding access codes. "Computer system" is defined in section 261 to include remote and cloud servers and "virtual digital space", which that section defines to cover e-mail servers, social-media accounts and online banking, trading and investment accounts. The Government stated in Parliament in February 2026 that this confers no new AI-based surveillance power — a point that has been contested.