Section 138 — Disclosure of Information Respecting Assessees
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Section 138 — (1)(a) the Board or specified authority may furnish information from the record to officers/authorities/bodies performing functions under tax, foreign-exchange or other laws, in the public interest; (1)(b) a person may apply to the Principal Chief Commissioner/CCIT or Principal Commissioner/Commissioner for information relating to an assessee, who may furnish it if satisfied it is in the public interest; (2) the Central Government may, by notification, direct that no information be furnished in respect of specified matters; (3) the order on a clause (1)(b) application is final and not open to question.
Chapter / Part: Chapter XIII, Part D — Disclosure of information.
FA 2026 status: Not amended by the Finance Act, 2026.
Nature: The controlled-disclosure provision that replaced the old secrecy rule (section 137); read with the RTI privacy exemption.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
A controlled gateway for disclosure
Section 138 is the controlled gateway through which information held by the Department may lawfully leave its confidential record. It works in two ways. Under clause (1)(a), the Board, or an authority specified by it, may furnish (or cause to be furnished) information relating to an assessee to officers, authorities or bodies performing functions under any law relating to tax, duty, cess or foreign exchange, or under such other law as the Central Government may notify, where the Board is of opinion that it is necessary in the public interest. Under clause (1)(b), any person may apply to the Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner / Commissioner for information relating to an assessee in respect of an assessment, and that authority may furnish the information if satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so — the decision being committed to his discretion and, by sub-section (3), made final and not liable to be called in question in any court.
The Central Government's notified embargo, and finality
Two structural features deserve emphasis. First, sub-section (2) empowers the Central Government, by notification, to direct that no information or document shall be furnished in respect of such matters relating to such class of assessees or except to such authorities as may be specified — a power to carve out protected categories from the disclosure regime. Second, sub-section (3) makes the Commissioner's decision on a clause (1)(b) application final: the applicant who is refused information has no right to have that refusal reviewed by a court, the legislative judgment being that disclosure of another person's tax affairs is a matter for administrative discretion exercised in the public interest, not a justiciable entitlement.
Section 138 and the Right to Information Act
The relationship between section 138 and the Right to Information Act, 2005 is of practical importance. The Supreme Court in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande held that the contents of a person's income-tax returns are 'personal information', the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest and which is exempt under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act unless a larger public interest justifies disclosure. The effect is that a third party cannot ordinarily obtain another person's tax particulars through an RTI request, any more than through a clause (1)(b) application that the Commissioner declines in the public interest. Section 138 and the RTI privacy exemption together preserve the confidentiality of tax information that the omission of section 137 might otherwise have appeared to weaken, while permitting disclosure to public authorities for legitimate public purposes under clause (1)(a).
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced below is section 138 as it stands in the bare Act.
138. (1) (a) The Board or any other income-tax authority specified by it by a general or special order in this behalf may furnish or cause to be furnished to—
(i) any officer, authority or body performing any functions under any law relating to the imposition of any tax, duty or cess, or to dealings in foreign exchange as defined in clause (n) of section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999); or
(ii) such officer, authority or body performing functions under any other law as the Central Government may, if in its opinion it is necessary so to do in the public interest, specify by notification in the Official Gazette in this behalf, any such information received or obtained by any income-tax authority in the performance of his functions under this Act, as may, in the opinion of the Board or other income-tax authority, be necessary for the purpose of enabling the officer, authority or body to perform his or its functions under that law. any such information received or obtained by any income-tax authority in the performance of his functions under this Act, as may, in the opinion of the Board or other income-tax authority, be necessary for the purpose of enabling the officer, authority or body to perform his or its functions under that law.
(b) Where a person makes an application to the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner in the prescribed form for any information relating to any assessee received or obtained by any income-tax authority in the performance of his functions under this Act, the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner may, if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest so to do, furnish or cause to be furnished the information asked for and his decision in this behalf shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court of law.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or any other law for the time being in force, the Central Government may, having regard to the practices and usages customary or any other relevant factors, by order notified in the Official Gazette, direct that no information or document shall be furnished or produced by a public servant in respect of such matters relating to such class of assessees or except to such authorities as may be specified in the order.
C. AUTHORITIES
Cluster 1 — Tax particulars are protected personal information; RTI interplay
Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. Central Information Commissioner (2013) 1 SCC 212 (SC)
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India, 3 October 2012. Reported: (2013) 1 SCC 212; (2013) 351 ITR 472 (SC); JT 2012 (9) SC 585.
Facts: An RTI applicant sought details of a public servant's assets, income-tax returns and related particulars.
Held: The details in income-tax returns and similar personal financial particulars are 'personal information' within section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act; they are exempt from disclosure unless the applicant establishes a larger public interest. Such information has no relationship to any public activity or interest and its disclosure would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Principle: A third party is not entitled, as of right, to another person's tax particulars; their confidentiality is protected, dovetailing with the discretionary, public-interest character of disclosure under section 138.
Relevance: The leading authority on the confidentiality of tax information and the RTI interface with section 138.
Naresh Trehan / R.K. Jain line — fiduciary and privacy character of tax records (RTI)
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India, 2013. Reported: (2013) 14 SCC 794.
Held: Records and particulars furnished to the tax authorities partake of a confidential/fiduciary character; their disclosure to third parties is controlled and is ordinarily resisted under the RTI privacy exemption, consistent with the controlled-disclosure scheme of section 138.
Principle: The confidentiality of information furnished to the Department is the norm; disclosure is the controlled exception, governed by public interest.
Relevance: Reinforces the protective default that section 138 administers.
Cluster 2 — Disclosure to public authorities in the public interest (clause (1)(a))
Clause (1)(a) is the conduit for inter-departmental and inter-agency sharing in the public interest; the controlling principle is that disclosure must serve a legitimate public purpose and be made to a body performing functions under a law of the kind specified.
Pooran Mal v. Director of Inspection (Investigation) (1974) 93 ITR 505 (SC) — use of tax material
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India (Constitution Bench), 14 December 1973. Reported: (1974) 93 ITR 505 (SC); 1974 CTR 25; (1974) 1 SCC 345; AIR 1974 SC 348; (1974) 2 SCR 704.
Held: Material lawfully in the possession of the tax authorities may be used and shared for the legitimate purposes of the Act and allied laws; the test governing the use of such material is relevance and legitimate purpose.
Principle: Disclosure/sharing under clause (1)(a) is legitimate where it serves a genuine public purpose connected with the administration of tax or allied laws.
Relevance: Supplies the principle controlling the public-interest disclosure conduit in clause (1)(a).
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 138 — Disclosure of Information Respecting Assessees
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Section 138 — (1)(a) the Board or specified authority may furnish information from the record to officers/authorities/bodies performing functions under tax, foreign-exchange or other laws, in the public interest; (1)(b) a person may apply to the Principal Chief Commissioner/CCIT or Principal Commissioner/Commissioner for information relating to an assessee, who may furnish it if satisfied it is in the public interest; (2) the Central Government may, by notification, direct that no information be furnished in respect of specified matters; (3) the order on a clause (1)(b) application is final and not open to question.
Chapter / Part: Chapter XIII, Part D — Disclosure of information.
FA 2026 status: Not amended by the Finance Act, 2026.
Nature: The controlled-disclosure provision that replaced the old secrecy rule (section 137); read with the RTI privacy exemption.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
A controlled gateway for disclosure
Section 138 is the controlled gateway through which information held by the Department may lawfully leave its confidential record. It works in two ways. Under clause (1)(a), the Board, or an authority specified by it, may furnish (or cause to be furnished) information relating to an assessee to officers, authorities or bodies performing functions under any law relating to tax, duty, cess or foreign exchange, or under such other law as the Central Government may notify, where the Board is of opinion that it is necessary in the public interest. Under clause (1)(b), any person may apply to the Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner / Commissioner for information relating to an assessee in respect of an assessment, and that authority may furnish the information if satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so — the decision being committed to his discretion and, by sub-section (3), made final and not liable to be called in question in any court.
The Central Government's notified embargo, and finality
Two structural features deserve emphasis. First, sub-section (2) empowers the Central Government, by notification, to direct that no information or document shall be furnished in respect of such matters relating to such class of assessees or except to such authorities as may be specified — a power to carve out protected categories from the disclosure regime. Second, sub-section (3) makes the Commissioner's decision on a clause (1)(b) application final: the applicant who is refused information has no right to have that refusal reviewed by a court, the legislative judgment being that disclosure of another person's tax affairs is a matter for administrative discretion exercised in the public interest, not a justiciable entitlement.
Section 138 and the Right to Information Act
The relationship between section 138 and the Right to Information Act, 2005 is of practical importance. The Supreme Court in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande held that the contents of a person's income-tax returns are 'personal information', the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest and which is exempt under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act unless a larger public interest justifies disclosure. The effect is that a third party cannot ordinarily obtain another person's tax particulars through an RTI request, any more than through a clause (1)(b) application that the Commissioner declines in the public interest. Section 138 and the RTI privacy exemption together preserve the confidentiality of tax information that the omission of section 137 might otherwise have appeared to weaken, while permitting disclosure to public authorities for legitimate public purposes under clause (1)(a).
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced below is section 138 as it stands in the bare Act.
138. (1) (a) The Board or any other income-tax authority specified by it by a general or special order in this behalf may furnish or cause to be furnished to—
(i) any officer, authority or body performing any functions under any law relating to the imposition of any tax, duty or cess, or to dealings in foreign exchange as defined in clause (n) of section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999); or
(ii) such officer, authority or body performing functions under any other law as the Central Government may, if in its opinion it is necessary so to do in the public interest, specify by notification in the Official Gazette in this behalf, any such information received or obtained by any income-tax authority in the performance of his functions under this Act, as may, in the opinion of the Board or other income-tax authority, be necessary for the purpose of enabling the officer, authority or body to perform his or its functions under that law. any such information received or obtained by any income-tax authority in the performance of his functions under this Act, as may, in the opinion of the Board or other income-tax authority, be necessary for the purpose of enabling the officer, authority or body to perform his or its functions under that law.
(b) Where a person makes an application to the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner in the prescribed form for any information relating to any assessee received or obtained by any income-tax authority in the performance of his functions under this Act, the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner may, if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest so to do, furnish or cause to be furnished the information asked for and his decision in this behalf shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court of law.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or any other law for the time being in force, the Central Government may, having regard to the practices and usages customary or any other relevant factors, by order notified in the Official Gazette, direct that no information or document shall be furnished or produced by a public servant in respect of such matters relating to such class of assessees or except to such authorities as may be specified in the order.
C. AUTHORITIES
Cluster 1 — Tax particulars are protected personal information; RTI interplay
Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. Central Information Commissioner (2013) 1 SCC 212 (SC)
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India, 3 October 2012. Reported: (2013) 1 SCC 212; (2013) 351 ITR 472 (SC); JT 2012 (9) SC 585.
Facts: An RTI applicant sought details of a public servant's assets, income-tax returns and related particulars.
Held: The details in income-tax returns and similar personal financial particulars are 'personal information' within section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act; they are exempt from disclosure unless the applicant establishes a larger public interest. Such information has no relationship to any public activity or interest and its disclosure would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Principle: A third party is not entitled, as of right, to another person's tax particulars; their confidentiality is protected, dovetailing with the discretionary, public-interest character of disclosure under section 138.
Relevance: The leading authority on the confidentiality of tax information and the RTI interface with section 138.
Naresh Trehan / R.K. Jain line — fiduciary and privacy character of tax records (RTI)
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India, 2013. Reported: (2013) 14 SCC 794.
Held: Records and particulars furnished to the tax authorities partake of a confidential/fiduciary character; their disclosure to third parties is controlled and is ordinarily resisted under the RTI privacy exemption, consistent with the controlled-disclosure scheme of section 138.
Principle: The confidentiality of information furnished to the Department is the norm; disclosure is the controlled exception, governed by public interest.
Relevance: Reinforces the protective default that section 138 administers.
Cluster 2 — Disclosure to public authorities in the public interest (clause (1)(a))
Clause (1)(a) is the conduit for inter-departmental and inter-agency sharing in the public interest; the controlling principle is that disclosure must serve a legitimate public purpose and be made to a body performing functions under a law of the kind specified.
Pooran Mal v. Director of Inspection (Investigation) (1974) 93 ITR 505 (SC) — use of tax material
Forum / Citation: Supreme Court of India (Constitution Bench), 14 December 1973. Reported: (1974) 93 ITR 505 (SC); 1974 CTR 25; (1974) 1 SCC 345; AIR 1974 SC 348; (1974) 2 SCR 704.
Held: Material lawfully in the possession of the tax authorities may be used and shared for the legitimate purposes of the Act and allied laws; the test governing the use of such material is relevance and legitimate purpose.
Principle: Disclosure/sharing under clause (1)(a) is legitimate where it serves a genuine public purpose connected with the administration of tax or allied laws.
Relevance: Supplies the principle controlling the public-interest disclosure conduit in clause (1)(a).
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.