54. Disclosure of information by a public servant.—(1) All particulars contained in any statement made, return furnished or accounts or documents produced under the provisions of this Act, or in any evidence given, or affidavit or deposition made, in the course of any proceedings under this Act other than proceedings under this Chapter, or in any record of any assessment proceeding, or any proceeding relating to the recovery of a demand, prepared for the purposes of this Act, shall be treated as confidential, and notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (I of 1872), no court shall, save as provided in this Act, be entitled to require any public servant to produce before it any such return, accounts, documents or record or any part of any such record, or to give evidence before it in respect thereof.(2) If a public servant discloses any particulars contained in any such statement, return, accounts, documents, evidence, affidavit, deposition or record, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months, and shall also be liable to fine.
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[(3)] Nothing in this section shall apply to the disclosure—(
a) of any such particulars for the purposes of a prosecution under
* * the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860) in respect of any such statement, return, accounts, documents, evidence, affidavit or deposition, or for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act, or
[(
b) of any such particulars to any person acting in the execution of this Act or of the Taxation on Income (Investigation Commission) Act, 1947 (XXX of 1947), where it is necessary or desirable to disclose the same to him for the purposes of either this Act or the Taxation on Income (Investigation Commission) Act, 1947, or](
c) of any such particulars occasioned by the lawful employment under this Act of any process for the service of any notice or
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