Government for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

Returns, etc., to be confidential

1. (1) All particulars contained in any statement made, return furnished [or accounts or documents produced in accordance with this Act, or in any record of evidence given in the course of any proceedings under this Act other than proceedings before a Criminal Court, shall, save as provided in sub-section (3), be treated as confidential, and notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, no court shall, save as aforesaid be entitled to require any officer of the 1[State] Government to produce before it any such statement, return, account, document or record or any part thereof, or to give evidence before it in respect thereof.
2. (2) If, save as provided in sub-section (3), any officer of the 1[State] Government discloses any of the particulars referred to in sub-section (1), he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months, and shall also be liable to fine.
3. (3) Nothing in this section shall apply to the disclosure of any of the particulars referred to in sub-section
4. (1) for the purposes of a prosecution under the Indian Penal Code in respect of any such statement, return, accounts, documents or evidence, or for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act, 2[or for departmental use of the officials of the Income-tax Department of the Government of India] 3[or for Government Departments of other sister States of the Union of India].