Madras HC reinforces DIN safeguards

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, by its judgment dated 5 August 2026, held that CBIC's DIN mechanism is an essential safeguard against arbitrary exercise of search powers and that even subsequently generated DINs must be communicated to taxpayers. While declining to invalidate the completed search, the Court found that the tax collected during the search lacked genuine voluntariness and directed the Department to conduct a fresh assessment, with the issue of refund being decided in accordance with the outcome of such proceedings.