Skip to content

CMA Final · Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation · Survey, Search and Seizure

During a search under the Income-tax Act, 2025, an authorised officer finds a heavy industrial machine (not stock-in-trade) that cannot practicably be moved to a safe place because of its weight. What may the officer do?

The officer may serve an order on the person in immediate possession forbidding removal or dealing without permission. Because the article cannot practicably be moved due to its weight, this action is deemed to be a seizure, unlike the sixty-day order used for other impracticable cases.

  1. AServe an order on the person in immediate possession not to remove, part with or deal with it without permission, and this action is deemed to be seizureCorrect
  2. BServe an order that lapses automatically after sixty days and is not treated as seizure
  3. CLeave it untouched because only books of account and documents can be seized
  4. DSeize it only after obtaining a fresh authorisation from the Commissioner

Explanation

Section 247(4)(a) lets the officer serve a prohibitory order where physical removal is not practicable due to volume, weight or physical characteristics, and the action is deemed seizure under clause (vii). The sixty-day, non-seizure order applies only under clause (b) for other reasons.

Did you get it right without looking?

One question tells you little. A timed set on Survey, Search and Seizure shows your real accuracy, how long you take and where you lose marks.

Practise Survey, Search and SeizureFree diagnostic mock

More Survey, Search and Seizure questions