CHARU CHANDRA KUNDU vs GURUPADA GHOSH

The Supreme Court held that Section 54 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 imposes an absolute prohibition on the disclosure of statements made by an assessee during income tax assessment proceedings, which cannot be waived. The court ruled that the appellant's attempt to produce the respondent's statement from the Income-tax Officer's records was impermissible, as the prohibition applies regardless of the assessee's consent. Consequently, the court upheld the lower court's decision to deny the production of the statement, affirming the integrity of the confidentiality provisions in tax assessments.