No prosecution shall be instituted against any person in respect of any offence under sections 3, 53 or section 54 without the previous sanction of the 1[competent authority].]
2[Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "competent authority" means a Commissioner, a Director, a Principal Commissioner of Income-tax or a Principal Director of Income-tax as defined in clause (16), clause (21), clause (34B) and clause (34C), respectively, of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961).]