The ¹ Assessing Officer, the ² Deputy Commissioner (Appeals), ³ the ⁴ Joint Commissioner or the Commissioner (Appeals) may, for the purposes of this Act,
(1) require any firm to furnish him with a return of the names and addresses of the partners of the firm and their respective shares;
(2) require any Hindu undivided family to furnish him with a return of the names and addresses of the manager and the members of the family;
(3) require any person whom he has reason to believe to be a trustee, guardian or agent, to furnish him with a return of the names of the persons for or of whom he is trustee, guardian or agent, and of their addresses;
(4) require any assessee to furnish a statement of the names and addresses of all persons to whom he has paid in any previous year rent, interest, commission, royalty or brokerage, or any annuity, not being any annuity taxable under the head Salaries amounting to more than ⁵ one thousand rupees, or such higher amount as may be prescribed, together with particulars of all such payments made;
(5) require any dealer, broker or agent or any person concerned in the management of a stock or commodity exchange to furnish a statement of the names and addresses of all persons to whom he or the exchange has paid any sum in connection with the transfer, whether by way of sale, exchange or otherwise, of assets, or on whose behalf or from whom he or the exchange has received any such sum, together with particulars of all such payments and receipts;
(6) require any person, including a banking company or any officer thereof, to furnish information in relation to such points or matters, or to furnish statements of accounts and affairs verified in the manner specified by the ¹ Assessing Officer, the ⁶ Deputy Commissioner (Appeals), ³ the ⁷ Joint Commissioner or the Commissioner (Appeals), giving information in relation to such points or matters as, in the opinion of the ¹ Assessing Officer, the ⁶ Deputy Commissioner (Appeals), ³ the ⁷ Joint Commissioner or the Commissioner (Appeals), will be useful for, or relevant to, any ⁸ enquiry or proceeding under this Act:
⁹ Provided that the powers referred to in clause (6), may also be exercised by the ¹⁰Principal Director General or Director General, the ¹¹Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, the ¹²Principal Director or Director ¹³or the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner or the Joint Director or Deputy Director or Assistant Director:
⁸ Provided further that the power in respect of an inquiry, in a case where no proceeding is pending, shall not be exercised by any income-tax authority below the rank of ¹²Principal Director or Director or ¹³Principal Commissioner or Commissioner ¹⁴, other than the Joint Director or Deputy Director or Assistant Director, without the prior approval of the ¹²Principal Director or Director or, as the case may be, the 13Principal Commissioner or Commissioner:
¹⁵ Provided also that for the purposes of an agreement referred to in section 90 or section 90A, an income-tax authority notified under sub-section (2) of section 131 may exercise all the powers conferred under this section, notwithstanding that no proceedings are pending before it or any other income-tax authority.