Section 121A - Jurisdiction of Inspecting Assistant Commissioners
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Section 121A - OMITTED.
Chapter / Part: Chapter XIII, Part B - Jurisdiction.
FA 2026 status: Not affected by the Finance Act, 2026 (the section was already off the statute book).
Nature: Historic / omitted. Retained in the numbering for completeness.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
Status - omitted provision
Section 121A was omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, with effect from 1 April 1988 (the original section having earlier been substituted). It is reproduced for completeness and to preserve the continuity of the section numbering in the Treatise; it has no current operation.
What the section did
Section 121A defined the jurisdiction of the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner, an intermediate supervisory/assessment authority in the pre-1988 hierarchy. The post itself was reorganised (the IAC function passing to the Joint/Deputy Commissioner cadres) and the jurisdiction provision became otiose.
Where the function now lives
Jurisdiction is now assigned under the Board's directions issued under section 120; the supervisory functions formerly attaching to the IAC are distributed across the Additional/Joint Commissioner cadres listed in section 116.
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced below is the entry for section 121A as it appears in the bare Act.
121A. [Omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, w.e.f. 1-4-1988. Original section was inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1977, w.e.f. 10-7-1978.]
Note: As an omitted provision, section 121A has no current operation and there is no live case law construing it. The cross-referenced authorities are those governing the successor provisions into which its function was absorbed.
C. AUTHORITIES
Cluster 1 - Successor framework and governing authority
The omitted section's function is now governed by the provisions noted above; the controlling authorities are collected under those sections.
Pannalal Binjraj v. Union of India (1957) 31 ITR 565 (SC) - jurisdiction and its allocation
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India (Constitution Bench), 1957. Reported: (1957) 31 ITR 565 (SC); AIR 1957 SC 397; (1957) SCR 233.
Held: The administrative allocation and transfer of cases among income-tax authorities is constitutionally valid; allocation of jurisdiction is an administrative arrangement and does not, by itself, offend Article 14, provided it is not exercised arbitrarily or to single out an assessee for hostile treatment.
Principle: Jurisdictional allocation among the authorities is an administrative matter within the Board's competence; the assessee's protection lies against arbitrary or mala fide exercise.
Relevance: The constitutional backdrop against which the original jurisdiction provisions (now restructured under sections 120, 124 and 127) operate.
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India, 24 March 1973. Reported: (1973) 87 ITR 539 (SC); (1973) 1 SCC 633; AIR 1973 SC 1362.
Held: No authority can confer jurisdiction on itself by erroneously deciding a jurisdictional fact; the existence of jurisdiction is objectively examinable by the High Court.
Principle: Jurisdiction is a matter of objective fact, not of the officer's own assertion - a principle that survives the restructuring of the original jurisdiction sections.
Relevance: Confirms continuity of the controlling principle from the omitted provisions into the present scheme.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text reproduced verbatim from the bare Act (Chapter XIII, ss. 116-138). Each authority is cited with its full parallel reporter citations as reported; Supreme Court, High Court and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) rulings are identified as such. Where a section has not been directly construed, that is stated candidly and the nearest governing authority is given. For professional reference; not legal advice.
CHAPTER XIII - INCOME-TAX AUTHORITIES
Section 121A - Jurisdiction of Inspecting Assistant Commissioners
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Section 121A - OMITTED.
Chapter / Part: Chapter XIII, Part B - Jurisdiction.
FA 2026 status: Not affected by the Finance Act, 2026 (the section was already off the statute book).
Nature: Historic / omitted. Retained in the numbering for completeness.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
Status - omitted provision
Section 121A was omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, with effect from 1 April 1988 (the original section having earlier been substituted). It is reproduced for completeness and to preserve the continuity of the section numbering in the Treatise; it has no current operation.
What the section did
Section 121A defined the jurisdiction of the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner, an intermediate supervisory/assessment authority in the pre-1988 hierarchy. The post itself was reorganised (the IAC function passing to the Joint/Deputy Commissioner cadres) and the jurisdiction provision became otiose.
Where the function now lives
Jurisdiction is now assigned under the Board's directions issued under section 120; the supervisory functions formerly attaching to the IAC are distributed across the Additional/Joint Commissioner cadres listed in section 116.
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced below is the entry for section 121A as it appears in the bare Act.
121A. [Omitted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, w.e.f. 1-4-1988. Original section was inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1977, w.e.f. 10-7-1978.]
Note: As an omitted provision, section 121A has no current operation and there is no live case law construing it. The cross-referenced authorities are those governing the successor provisions into which its function was absorbed.
C. AUTHORITIES
Cluster 1 - Successor framework and governing authority
The omitted section's function is now governed by the provisions noted above; the controlling authorities are collected under those sections.
Pannalal Binjraj v. Union of India (1957) 31 ITR 565 (SC) - jurisdiction and its allocation
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India (Constitution Bench), 1957. Reported: (1957) 31 ITR 565 (SC); AIR 1957 SC 397; (1957) SCR 233.
Held: The administrative allocation and transfer of cases among income-tax authorities is constitutionally valid; allocation of jurisdiction is an administrative arrangement and does not, by itself, offend Article 14, provided it is not exercised arbitrarily or to single out an assessee for hostile treatment.
Principle: Jurisdictional allocation among the authorities is an administrative matter within the Board's competence; the assessee's protection lies against arbitrary or mala fide exercise.
Relevance: The constitutional backdrop against which the original jurisdiction provisions (now restructured under sections 120, 124 and 127) operate.
Raza Textiles Ltd. v. Income-tax Officer (1973) 87 ITR 539 (SC) - jurisdictional fact
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India, 24 March 1973. Reported: (1973) 87 ITR 539 (SC); (1973) 1 SCC 633; AIR 1973 SC 1362.
Held: No authority can confer jurisdiction on itself by erroneously deciding a jurisdictional fact; the existence of jurisdiction is objectively examinable by the High Court.
Principle: Jurisdiction is a matter of objective fact, not of the officer's own assertion - a principle that survives the restructuring of the original jurisdiction sections.
Relevance: Confirms continuity of the controlling principle from the omitted provisions into the present scheme.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text reproduced verbatim from the bare Act (Chapter XIII, ss. 116-138). Each authority is cited with its full parallel reporter citations as reported; Supreme Court, High Court and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) rulings are identified as such. Where a section has not been directly construed, that is stated candidly and the nearest governing authority is given. For professional reference; not legal advice.