Section 43 in The Maharashtra Tax on Luxuries Act, 1987
43. Disclosure of information by any public servant.
(1)All particulars contained in any statement made, return furnished or accounts or documents produced in accordance with this Act, or in any record of evidence given in the course or any proceeding under this Act (other than a proceeding before a Criminal Court), or in any record of any assessment proceeding, or any proceeding relating to the recovery of a deemed, prepared for the purposes of this Act, shall, save as provided in sub-section (2), be treated as confidential.(2)Nothing contained in this section shall apply to the disclosure-(a)of any such particulars in respect of any such statement, returns, accounts, documents, evidence, affidavit or deposition, for the purposes of any prosecution under the Indian Penal Code or the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, or this Act, or any other law for the time being in force; 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 or any process for the service of any notice for 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 proceeding under this Act; or(e)of any such particulars to any officer appointed to audit receipts or refunds of the tax imposed by this Act; or(f)of any such particulars where such particulars are relevant to any inquiry into the conduct of an official of the Government to any person or persons appointed by 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 functions 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 proceedings under this Act against a legal practitioner, tax practitioner or, Chartered Accountant, to the authority empowered to take disciplinary action against members practising the profession of a legal practitioner, tax practitioner or Chartered Accountant, as the case may be; or(j)of any such particulars to the Director, Bureau of Economics and Statistics or any officer serving under him or to any person or persons authorised under section 32 as may be necessary for enabling the Director or such person or persons to work out the incidence of tax on any particular class of receipt or on receipts generally.(3)No information of any individual return and no part of any individual return with respect to any matter given for the purposes of section 32 shall without the previous consent in writing of the owner for the time being or his authorised agent be published in such manner as to enable any particulars to be identified referring to a particular hotelier and no such information shall be used for the purpose of any proceeding under the provisions of this Act.(4)Except for the purposes of prosecution under this Act, or under the Indian Penal Code, no person who is not engaged in the collection of statistics under section 32 or in the administration of this Act shall be permitted to see or have access to any information or any individual return referred to in that section.(5)Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, if the State Government is of opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the public interest to publish or disclose the names of any hoteliers or other persons and any other particulars relating to any proceedings under this Act in respect of such hoteliers and persons, it may publish or disclose or cause to be published or disclosed such names and particulars in such manner as it thinks fit.(6)No publication or disclosure under this section shall be made in relation to any tax on interest levied or penalty imposed or any conviction for any offence connected with any proceedings under this Act, until the time for presenting an appeal to the appropriate appellate authority has expired without an appeal having been presented or the appeal, if presented, has been disposed of.Explanation. - In the case of a firm, company or other association of persons, the names of the partners of the firm, the directors, managing agents, secretaries, treasurers or managers of the company or the members of the association, as the case may be, may also be published or disclosed, if in the opinion of the State Government, the circumstances of the case justify it.
