Section 153A is the historical search-assessment route for the person searched; Section 153C is the corresponding route for another person when specified seized material is sufficiently connected to that person. The search or requisition date matters: these provisions do not apply to searches or requisitions on or after 1 April 2021. For later cases, the other-person undisclosed-income route is Section 158BD, read with Section 158BC, subject to the applicable law and transition rules.
What is the difference between Section 153A and Section 153C?
| Point of comparison | Section 153A | Section 153C |
|---|---|---|
| Who is assessed | The person searched under Section 132, or whose books, documents or assets were requisitioned under Section 132A. | A person other than the person covered by Section 153A, where the statutory conditions concerning seized material are met. |
| What starts the process | A search or requisition involving that person. | Seized material is identified as connected to another person, transferred to that person’s jurisdictional Assessing Officer, and found by that officer to bear on determining that person’s total income. |
| Assessment procedure | The section provides for notice and assessment in the search case. | The officer proceeds against the other person in the manner provided in Section 153A, if Section 153C’s conditions are satisfied. |
| Relevant search-date scope | The historical provision covers searches or requisitions after 31 May 2003 and on or before 31 March 2021. | Section 153C(3) excludes searches initiated, and books, documents or assets requisitioned, on or after 1 April 2021. |
In plain terms, Section 153A concerns the searched person; Section 153C concerns a different person whose income may be indicated by qualifying material found in that search. Section 153C does not create an entirely separate assessment method: it directs the officer to use the Section 153A manner of assessment once the conditions for proceeding against the other person are met.
When can seized material support a Section 153C case?
The connection between the material and the other person is central. Section 153C(1) addresses money, bullion, jewellery or another valuable article or thing that “belongs to” the other person, and books or documents that pertain or relate to that person, including information contained in them that relates to that person. The material must also bear on determining that person’s total income.
What the officer must do
- The material must be identified as falling within the provision’s categories and as connected to someone other than the searched person.
- It must be handed over to the Assessing Officer who has jurisdiction over that other person.
- That officer must be satisfied that the material bears on determining the other person’s total income before proceeding under Section 153C.
A third party’s name appearing in a seized document, by itself, should not be treated as proof that every statutory condition is met. Whether the connection and bearing requirements are satisfied depends on the actual material and case record.
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Which assessment years can be covered, and is there one deadline?
For the historical framework, Section 153C links the years considered to the Section 153A scheme. Its statutory formulation refers to six assessment years immediately preceding the relevant assessment year, subject to the applicable wording, statutory qualifications and exceptions. That span is not a guarantee that every one of those years will automatically be assessed or reopened.
Completion deadlines are a separate question. Historical Section 153B timing depends on the financial year in which the last search authorisation was executed, and the treatment of an “other person” has specific rules. There is no single deadline that can safely be applied to every Section 153C case without checking the governing version of the law and the relevant dates and procedural facts.
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- Identify the search or requisition date and the relevant statutory version.
- For a Section 153C case, establish when material was handed over and the applicable procedural history.
- Check exclusions, extensions and transition provisions before calculating a completion date.
What applies to searches on or after 1 April 2021?
The date boundary changes the route to examine. Section 153C(3) states that the section does not apply to a search initiated under Section 132, or books, documents or assets requisitioned under Section 132A, on or after 1 April 2021. Section 153A’s historical scope likewise ends on 31 March 2021.
For the later other-person undisclosed-income framework, official materials identify Section 158BD, under which the Assessing Officer proceeds against the other person under Section 158BC. The Finance Act, 2025 text substitutes Section 158BD with effect from 1 September 2024. The Income Tax Department also provides the Income-tax Act, 2025 and transition resources; a case’s applicable route therefore needs to be checked against its dates and relevant transition provisions rather than inferred from the section number alone.
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A section number alone cannot establish whether a particular assessment is procedurally or substantively valid. Review the documents and dates that determine which provision applies and whether its requirements were followed:
- The date of the search or requisition and the law in force for that event.
- For a proposed Section 153C proceeding, the seized material relied on and how it is said to belong to, pertain to or relate to the other person.
- The record of satisfaction and the transfer of material to the other person’s jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
- The notices issued, the assessment years identified and the procedural timeline, including any applicable exclusions or extensions.
These are statutory questions, not a substitute for reviewing the notice and case record with a qualified tax professional.
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