Section 61 in The Maharashtra Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1962
61. Disclosure of information by public servant.
(1)All particulars contained in any statement made, return furnished or accounts or documents produced under the provisions of this Act, or in any evidence given or affidavit or deposition made in the course of any proceedings under this Act (other than proceedings under this Chapter) or in any record of any assessment proceedings or any proceeding relating to the recovery of a demand, prepared for the purposes of this Act shall be treated as confidential, and notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, no Court shall, save as provided in sub-section (3), be entitled to require any servant of the Government to produce before it any such statement, return, accounts, documents or record or any part thereof or to give evidence before it in respect thereof.(2)If, save as provided in sub-section (3), any servant of the Government discloses any of the particulars referred to in sub-section (1), he shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment which may extend to six months or with fine or, with both.(3)Nothing contained in this section shall apply to the disclosure -(a)of any such particulars in respect of any such statement, return, accounts, documents, evidence, affidavit or deposition for the purpose of any prosecution under the Indian Penal Code or the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, or the Defence of India Ordinance, 1962 or any rules or orders made thereunder or for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act; or(b)of any such particulars to the State Government or to any person acting in the execution of this Act for the purposes of carrying out the object of this Act; or(c)of any such particulars when such disclosure is occasioned by the lawful employment under this Act of any process for the service of any notice or the recovery of any demand; or(d)of any such particulars to a Civil Court in any suit, to which the Government is a party, which relates to any matter arising out of any proceedings under this Act; or(e)of any such particulars to any officer appointed to audit receipts or refunds of the agricultural income-tax imposed under this Act; or(f)of any such particulars where such particulars are relevant in any inquiry into the conduct of an official of the Agricultural Income-tax Department to any person or persons appointed Commissioners under the Public Servants (Inquiries) Act, 1850, or to any officer otherwise appointed to hold such inquiry or to a Public Service Commission established under the Constitution when exercising its function in relation to any matter arising out of such inquiry; or(g)of such facts to an officer of the Central Government or a State Government as may be necessary for the purpose of enabling that Government to levy or realise any tax or duty imposed by it; or(h)of any such particulars when such disclosure is occasioned by the lawful exercise by a public servant of his powers under the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958 or the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, to impound an insufficiently stamped document; or(i)of any such particulars where such particulars are relevant to any inquiry into a charge of misconduct in connection with agricultural income-tax proceedings against a legal practitioner, agricultural income-tax practitioner or chartered accountant, to the authority empowered to take disciplinary action against members practising the profession of a legal practitioner, agricultural income-tax practitioner or chartered accountant, as the case may be.
