Notice under section 34 to a deceased assessee is a jurisdictional defect; assessment based on such notice cannot stand.

A notice under section 34 addressed to a deceased assessee rather than to his executor, administrator or legal representatives fails the statutory requirement in section 24B(2) and is therefore defective as a jurisdictional prerequisite; where tax authorities had knowledge of the death and identified successors, sending notices in the deceased's name could not be treated as valid service on legal representatives. Consequently, any assessment founded solely on such defective notice cannot be sustained, and the petition was allowed for the assessee.

---

---

Issues: Whether a notice under section 34 of the Income-tax Act, issued and addressed to a deceased assessee instead of his executor, administrator or legal representatives, is valid and whether an assessment can be made on the basis of such notice.

Analysis: Section 24B(2) requires that a notice under section 34 in respect of the income of a deceased assessee be issued to the executor, administrator or legal representatives. The notice in question and subsequent communications were addressed to the deceased person despite the Department's records showing his death and identifying his legal representatives who were assessed in subsequent years as an association of persons. A notice under section 34 is a foundational jurisdictional step; when it is addressed to a dead person and not to the legally recognised representatives, it is defective. The taxing authority, having knowledge of the death and of the successors, could not validly treat delivery to the deceased's name as compliance with the statutory requirement or attribute notice to a living person or to the association of persons in the absence of a correct notice to the legal representatives.

Conclusion: The notice addressed to the deceased person is defective; it is a condition precedent for action under section 34 and, accordingly, assessment made on the strength of that notice cannot be sustained. The petition is allowed in favour of the assessee.

---