Certain offences to be non-cognizable

Section 492 — CERTAIN OFFENCES TO BE NON-COGNIZABLE

Section 492 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 corresponds to s. 279A of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

STATUTORY ARCHITECTURE

Section 492 is a deeming provision.Irrespective of anything contained in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023), an offence punishable under s. 476, 478, 479, 480, 482 or 484 is deemed to be non-cognizable within the meaning of that Sanhita. The section does not create any offence or prescribe any punishment; it classifies specified offences created elsewhere in the Act for the purposes of the procedural code. Its operative effect is that the general classification of offences under the Sanhita yields, for these six sections, to the statutory deeming in s. 492.

KEY ELEMENTS

• Overriding clause — "Irrespective of anything contained in" the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023).
• Offences covered — those punishable under s. 476, s. 478, s. 479, s. 480, s. 482 and s. 484.
• Deeming — each such offence "shall be deemed to be non-cognizable".
• Meaning of "non-cognizable" — as understood "within the meaning of that Sanhita", so the term takes its content from the Sanhita and not from the Act.
• Scope — offences punishable under sections of the Act not named in the list are not affected by this section.

CHANGES FROM THE 1961 ACT

Section 492 corresponds to s. 279A of the 1961 Act. Three differences are visible. First, the procedural code referred to is now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023), whereas s. 279A of the 1961 Act referred to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974); the 1961 text carries a note that, vide Notification No. S.O. 2790(E) dated 16-7-2024, the reference is now read as Act No. 46 of 2023. Secondly, the list of offences is renumbered: the 1961 Act named five sections (s. 276B, s. 276C, s. 276CC, s. 277 and s. 278 of the 1961 Act), while the 2025 Act names six (s. 476, 478, 479, 480, 482 and 484). Five of the six correspond to the five listed in s. 279A (s. 476 to s. 276B, s. 478 to s. 276C, s. 479 to s. 276CC, s. 482 to s. 277 and s. 484 to s. 278 of the 1961 Act). The addition is s. 480 (failure to furnish the return required by notice under s. 294(1)(a)), whose 1961 counterpart, s. 276CCC, was not deemed non-cognizable by s. 279A. Thirdly, "Notwithstanding anything contained in" becomes "Irrespective of anything contained in".

PRACTITIONER NOTES

• When advising on prosecution under any of the six listed sections, the non-cognizable classification follows from s. 492 regardless of how the Sanhita would otherwise classify the offence.
• The procedural consequences of non-cognizability are to be found in the Sanhita, since the term is used "within the meaning of that Sanhita".
• For an offence under a section outside the list, s. 492 gives no deemed classification.

CROSS-REFERENCES

• s. 476, s. 478, s. 479, s. 480, s. 482 and s. 484 — the offence provisions whose offences are deemed non-cognizable.
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023) — the code whose meaning of "non-cognizable" applies.
• s. 279A of the 1961 Act — corresponding provision.