Section 70 - Amendment of section 279 - Finance (No. 2) Act, 1991

70. Amendment of section 279. In section 279 of the Income-tax Act,- (a) for sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be substituted, with effect from the 1st day of October, 1991, namely: - (1) A person shall not be proceeded against for an offence under section 275A, section 276, section 276A, section 276B, section 276BB, section 276C, section 276CC, section 276D, section 277 or section 278 except with the previous sanction of the Commissioner or Commissioner (Appeals) or the appropriate authority: Provided that the Chief Commissioner or, as the case may be, Director General may issue such instructions or directions to the aforesaid income-tax authorities as he may deem fit for institution of proceedings under this sub-section. Explanation. For the purposes of this section, appropriate authority shall have the same meaning as in clause (c) of section 269UA. ; (b) for sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be substituted, with effect from the 1st day of October, 1991, namely:- (2) Any offence under this Chapter may, either before or after the institution of proceedings, be compounded by the Chief Commissioner or Director General. ; (c) after sub-section (3), the following Explanation shall be inserted and shall be deemed always to have been inserted, namely:- Explanation.--For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the power of the Board to issue orders, instructions or directions under this Act shall include and shall be deemed always to have included the power to issue instructions or directions (including instructions or directions to obtain the previous approval of the Board) to other income-tax authorities for the proper composition of offences under this section. .