The Income-tax Act, 1961

(1) The Central Government shall constitute, one or more Dispute Resolution Committees, as may be necessary, in accordance with the rules made under this Act, for dispute resolution in the case of such persons or class of persons, as may be specified by the Board, who may opt for dispute resolution under this Chapter in respect of dispute arising from any variation in the specified order in his case and who fulfils the specified conditions.

(2) The Dispute Resolution Committee, subject to such conditions, as may be prescribed, shall have the powers to reduce or ⁹²[waive any penalty imposed

or imposable] under this Act or grant immunity from prosecution for any offence punishable under this Act in case of a person whose dispute is resolved under this Chapter.

(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 144C, upon receipt of the order of the Dispute Resolution Committee under this section, the Assessing Officer shall,—

(a) in a case where the specified order is a draft of the proposed order of assessment under sub-section (1) of section 144C, pass an order of assessment, reassessment or recomputation; or

(b) in any other case, modify the order of assessment, reassessment or recomputation, in conformity with the directions contained in the order of the Dispute Resolution Committee within a period of one month from the end of the month in which such order is received.

(3) The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of dispute resolution under this Chapter, so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by—

(a) eliminating the interface between the Dispute Resolution Committee and the assessee in the course of dispute resolution proceedings to the extent technologically feasible;

(b) optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation;

(c) introducing a dispute resolution system with dynamic jurisdiction.

(4) The Central Government may, for the purposes of giving effect to the scheme made under sub-section (3), by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any of the provisions of this Act shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as may be specified in the said notification:

Provided that no such direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2023:

Provided further that the Central Government may amend any direction, issued under this sub-section on or before the 31st day of March, 2023, by notification in the Official Gazette.

(5) Every notification issued under sub-sections (3) and (4) shall, as soon as may be after the notification is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament.

Explanation.— For the purposes of this section,—

(a) "specified conditions" in relation to a person means a person who fulfils the following conditions, namely:—

(I) where he is not a person,—

(A) in respect of whom an order of detention has been made under the provisions of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (52 of 1974):

Provided that—

(i) such order of detention, being an order to which the provisions of section 9 or Section 12A of the said Act do not apply, has been revoked on the report of the Advisory Board under section 8 of the said Act or before the receipt of the report of the Advisory Board; or

(ii) such order of detention being an order to which the provisions of section 9 of the said Act apply, has not been revoked before the expiry of the time for, or on the basis of, the review under sub-section (3) of section 9, or on the report of the Advisory Board under section 8, read with sub-section (2) of section 9, of the said Act; or

(iii) such order of detention, being an order to which the provisions of Section 12A of the said Act apply, has not been revoked before the expiry of the time for, or on the basis of, the first review under sub-section (3) of the said section, or on the basis of the report of the Advisory Board under section 8, read with sub-section (6) of Section 12A, of the said Act; or

(iv) such order of detention has not been set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction;

(B) in respect of whom prosecution for any offence punishable under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (61 of 1985), the Prohibition of Benami Transactions Act, 1988 (45 of 1988), the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (49 of 1988) or the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (15 of 2003) has been instituted and he has been convicted of any offence punishable under any of those Acts;

(C) in respect of whom prosecution has been initiated by an income-tax authority for any offence punishable under the provisions of this Act or the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or for the purpose of enforcement of any civil liability under any law for the time being in force, or such person has been convicted of any such offence consequent upon the prosecution initiated by an income-tax authority;

(D) who is notified under section 3 of the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992 (27 of 1992);

(II) such other conditions, as may be prescribed.

(b) "specified order" means such order, including draft order, as may be specified by the Board, and,—

(i) aggregate sum of variations proposed or made in such order does not exceed ten lakh rupees;

(ii) such order is not based on search initiated under section 132 or requisition under section 132A in the case of assessee or any other person or survey under section 133A or information received under an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A;

(iii) where return has been filed by the assessee for the assessment year relevant to such order, total income as per such return does not exceed fifty lakh rupees.