(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957), the Gift-tax Act, 1958 (18 of 1958), the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (46 of 1973) and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976 (49 of 1976),--
(a) no subscriber shall be required to disclose, for any purpose whatsoever, the nature and source of acquisition of the gold subscribed for the Gold Bonds, including the source of money with which the gold was acquired;
(b) no inquiry or investigation shall be commenced against any subscriber under any of the said Acts on the ground that such subscriber owns the Gold Bonds; and
(c) the fact that any subscriber owns the Gold Bonds shall not be taken into account for the purposes of, and shall be inadmissible as evidence in, any proceedings under any of the said Acts:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall apply where any proceedings in respect of the gold subscribed by the subscriber have already been initiated before the commencement of this Act in accordance with the provisions of any of the aforesaid Acts.
(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply in relation to prosecution for any offence punishable under Chapter IX or Chapter XVII of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (61 of 1985), the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (28 of 1987), the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (49 of 1988) or for the purposes of enforcement of any civil liability.