82. Sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) substituted for sub-sections (2) and (3) by the Finance Act, 2003, w.e.f. 1-6-2003. Prior to their substitution, sub-sections (2) and (3), as inserted by the Finance Act, 1997, w.e.f. 1-4-1997, read as under :

      “(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, a return filed on a floppy, diskette, magnetic cartridge tape, CD-ROM or any other computer readable media as may be specified by the Board (hereinafter referred to as the computer media) shall be deemed to be a return for the purposes of this section and the rules made thereunder and shall be admissible in any proceedings thereunder, without further proof of production of the original, as evidence of any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein.

      (3) A return filed under sub-section (2) shall fulfil the following conditions, namely :—

  (a)  while receiving returns on computer media, necessary checks by scanning the documents filed on computer media will be carried out and the media will be duly authenticated by the Assessing Officer; and

  (b)  the Assessing Officer shall also take due care to preserve the computer media by duplicating, transferring, mastering or storage without loss of data.”