meaning of word panchnama
a search and seizure under the said Act has to be carried out in the presence of at least two respectable inhabitants of the locality where the search and seizure is conducted. These respectable inhabitants are witnesses to the search and seizure and are known as ―panchas‖. The documentation of what they witness is known as the panchnama. The word ‗nama', refers to a written document. Its type is usually determined by the word which is combined with it as a suffix. Examples being, nikah-nama (the written muslim marriage contract), hiba-nama (gift deed, the word hiba ITA No. 1198/2008 Page No.14 of 28 meaning - gift), wasiyat-nama (written will) and so on. So a panchnama is a written record of what the panch has witnessed. In Mohan Lal v. Emperor: AIR 1941 Bombay 149, it was observed that ―[t]he panchnama is merely a record of what a panch sees..‖ Similarly, the Gujarat High Court in the case of Valibhai Omarji v. The State: AIR 1963 Guj 145 noted that ―[a] Panchanama is essentially a document recording certain things which occur in the presence of Panchas and which are seen and heard by them.‖ Again in The State of Maharashtra v. Kacharadas D. Bhalgar: (1978) 80 BomLR 396, a panchnama was stated to be ―a memorandum of what happens in the presence of the panchas as seen by them and of what they hear‖./
Delhi High Court
Commissioner Of Income Tax Delhi ... vs Shri S.K. Katyal on 12 November, 2008
