Section 245L — Proceedings Before Settlement Commission to be Judicial Proceedings
Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Any proceeding under the Chapter before the Commission is deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and for the purposes of section 196, of the Indian Penal Code.
Heading: Proceedings before Settlement Commission to be judicial proceedings.
Finance Act, 2026: Not amended.
Authorities digested: 1 (candour rule — a deeming provision attracting the perjury/contempt provisions of the Penal Code).
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
1. Solemnity of the proceeding
Section 245L clothes the settlement proceeding with the solemnity of a judicial proceeding for the purposes of the Penal Code: false evidence (section 193 IPC), fabrication for use in the proceeding, and contempt of the lawful authority of a public servant (section 228 IPC) attract penal consequences, and the Commission is, for section 196 IPC, a court. The deeming reinforces the requirement of full and true disclosure — an applicant who lies to the Commission risks prosecution for perjury, independently of the settlement's own consequences.
2. Cognate provision
The deeming is the settlement counterpart of section 136, which makes proceedings before income-tax authorities judicial proceedings for the same Penal Code purposes. The construction of section 136 (the solemnity and evidentiary character it imports) applies by analogy to section 245L. With the Penal Code replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the corresponding offences are now found in that Sanhita, but the deeming continues to operate through the General Clauses Act.
3. Candour note
No reported decision turning specifically on section 245L has been traced; the deeming is self-executing and uncontested. The cognate section 136 line is identified as such.
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
The text of the section, as it stands in the Act (FA-2025 base), is set out below.
245L. Any proceeding under this Chapter before the Settlement Commission shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and for the purposes of section 196, of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
C. AUTHORITIES
Deeming provision; cognate to section 136 (judicial-proceeding deeming for income-tax authorities).
Candour — no direct authority; cognate section 136 deeming
Position: No reported decision construing section 245L has been traced. The provision mirrors section 136, which deems proceedings before income-tax authorities to be judicial proceedings for sections 193, 196 and 228 IPC (now the corresponding provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023). Cited as cognate; the deeming is self-executing.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (text as printed in the local Act, base text amended up to the Finance Act, 2025), with the publisher's footnote apparatus and amendment-marker brackets removed; three asterisks (***) denote words or a provision omitted by amendment and retained only to mark the omission. The Income-tax Settlement Commission ceased to operate for applications made on or after 1 February 2021 (Finance Act, 2021); pending applications stand transferred to the Interim Board for Settlement (section 245AA). Finance Act, 2026 makes no change to any section of Chapter XIX-A. Citations are stated as reported; orders of the Tribunal and High Courts are flagged as such. Where a section has not been judicially construed, that is stated candidly and the nearest governing authority is given. This material is for professional reference and is not legal advice.
CHAPTER XIX-A — SETTLEMENT OF CASES
Section 245L — Proceedings Before Settlement Commission to be Judicial Proceedings
Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · bharattax.co Treatise
Provision: Any proceeding under the Chapter before the Commission is deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and for the purposes of section 196, of the Indian Penal Code.
Heading: Proceedings before Settlement Commission to be judicial proceedings.
Finance Act, 2026: Not amended.
Authorities digested: 1 (candour rule — a deeming provision attracting the perjury/contempt provisions of the Penal Code).
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
1. Solemnity of the proceeding
Section 245L clothes the settlement proceeding with the solemnity of a judicial proceeding for the purposes of the Penal Code: false evidence (section 193 IPC), fabrication for use in the proceeding, and contempt of the lawful authority of a public servant (section 228 IPC) attract penal consequences, and the Commission is, for section 196 IPC, a court. The deeming reinforces the requirement of full and true disclosure — an applicant who lies to the Commission risks prosecution for perjury, independently of the settlement's own consequences.
2. Cognate provision
The deeming is the settlement counterpart of section 136, which makes proceedings before income-tax authorities judicial proceedings for the same Penal Code purposes. The construction of section 136 (the solemnity and evidentiary character it imports) applies by analogy to section 245L. With the Penal Code replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the corresponding offences are now found in that Sanhita, but the deeming continues to operate through the General Clauses Act.
3. Candour note
No reported decision turning specifically on section 245L has been traced; the deeming is self-executing and uncontested. The cognate section 136 line is identified as such.
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
The text of the section, as it stands in the Act (FA-2025 base), is set out below.
245L. Any proceeding under this Chapter before the Settlement Commission shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and for the purposes of section 196, of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
C. AUTHORITIES
Deeming provision; cognate to section 136 (judicial-proceeding deeming for income-tax authorities).
Cluster 1 — Candour / cognate (section 136)
Candour — no direct authority; cognate section 136 deeming
Position: No reported decision construing section 245L has been traced. The provision mirrors section 136, which deems proceedings before income-tax authorities to be judicial proceedings for sections 193, 196 and 228 IPC (now the corresponding provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023). Cited as cognate; the deeming is self-executing.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (text as printed in the local Act, base text amended up to the Finance Act, 2025), with the publisher's footnote apparatus and amendment-marker brackets removed; three asterisks (***) denote words or a provision omitted by amendment and retained only to mark the omission. The Income-tax Settlement Commission ceased to operate for applications made on or after 1 February 2021 (Finance Act, 2021); pending applications stand transferred to the Interim Board for Settlement (section 245AA). Finance Act, 2026 makes no change to any section of Chapter XIX-A. Citations are stated as reported; orders of the Tribunal and High Courts are flagged as such. Where a section has not been judicially construed, that is stated candidly and the nearest governing authority is given. This material is for professional reference and is not legal advice.