Procedure.
(1) No order imposing a penalty under this Chapter shall be made unless the assessee has been heard, or has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard [by way of a show-cause notice to that effect].
(2) No order imposing a penalty under this Chapter shall be made—
(a) by the Income-tax Officer, where the penalty exceeds ten thousand rupees;
(b) by the Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, where the penalty exceeds twenty thousand rupees,
except with the prior approval of the Joint Commissioner.
(2A) The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of imposing penalty under this Chapter so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by—
(a) eliminating the interface between the income-tax authority and the assessee or any other person to the extent technologically feasible;
(b) optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation;
(c) introducing a mechanism for imposing of penalty with dynamic jurisdiction in which penalty shall be imposed by one or more income-tax authorities.
(2B) The Central Government may, for the purposes of giving effect to the scheme made under sub-section (2A), by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any of the provisions of this Act relating to jurisdiction and procedure for imposing penalty shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as may be specified in the notification:
Providedthat no direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2022:
Provided furtherthat the Central Government may amend any direction, issued under this sub-section on or before the 31st day of March, 2022, by notification in the Official Gazette.
(2C) Every notification issued under sub-section (2A) and sub-section (2B) shall, as soon as may be after the notification is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament.
(3) An income-tax authority on making an order under this Chapter imposing a penalty, unless he is himself the Assessing Officer, shall forthwith send a copy of such order to the Assess-ing Officer.
[(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, where any draft of the proposed order of assessment under section 144C or assessment under section 143 or reassessment under section 147 is made on or after 1st of April, 2027 in respect of the assessment year 2026-2027 or any earlier assessment year,––
(a) the penalty under section 270A, if any, shall constitute part of such draft assessment or shall be imposed as a part of such order of assessment or reassessment, as the case may be; and
(b) the reference to the assessment order or the penalty order under section 270A in any of the provisions of this Act shall take reference to such order of assessment or reassessment, as the case may be.
(5) Where the approval of the Joint Commissioner is taken for passing of an order of assessment or reassessment on or after the 1st April, 2027, such approval shall also be deemed to be the approval for the imposition of penalty under section 270A, if any, constituting part of such order of assessment or reassessment.]