Income Tax Search Invalid Without Pre-Search Justification or Reason to Believe

Balkrushna Gopalrao Buty Vs Principal Director (Investigation) (Bombay High Court) The Bombay High Court has set aside a search and seizure operation conducted by the Income Tax Department at the premises of Balkrushna Gopalrao Buty and others, citing a fundamental lack of “reason to believe” on the part of the authorities as mandated by Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The court ruled that the information in the department’s possession prior to the search did not meet the statutory requirements for initiating such a coercive action. The petitioners, Balkrushna Gopalr...