Appeals dismissed as revenue failed to bring legal representatives on record in time

The appeals filed by the revenue against the order of the CIT(A) abated due to the revenue's failure to bring the legal representatives (LRs) of the deceased assessee on record despite being informed of the death and given opportunities to do so. The Tribunal emphasized the necessity of complying with procedures to bring LRs on record in such cases. As per Order XXII rule 4 of the CPC, if steps to bring LRs on record are not taken within the prescribed time, the appeal shall abate. Consequently, the revenue's appeals were dismissed.

---

---

Issues:
Failure to bring legal representatives on record after the death of the assessee during the appeal process.

Analysis:
The appeals were filed by the revenue against the order of the CIT(A). During the pendency of the appeal, the assessee passed away, and the Tribunal was informed about this by the counsel of the deceased assessee. Despite multiple adjournments and directions to bring the legal representatives (LRs) on record, the revenue made no efforts to comply. The Tribunal noted the revenue's lack of seriousness in prosecuting the appeal by bringing the LRs on record.

The provisions of rule 26 of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1963 state that if a respondent dies during the appeal, the legal representatives must be brought on record, and the appeal shall not abate. However, no specific time limit for bringing the LRs on record is mentioned in the Income-tax appellate tribunal rules. In such cases, general laws like Order XXII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, which detail the procedure for bringing legal representatives on record in case of a party's death during proceedings, should be followed. Rule 4 of Order XXII specifically outlines the procedure to bring LRs on record in case of the death of a defendant.

Since the revenue failed to make any efforts to bring the LRs on record despite being informed of the assessee's death and given multiple opportunities, the Tribunal concluded that the appeals filed by the revenue had abated. Therefore, the appeals of the revenue were dismissed based on the provisions of Order XXII rule 4 of the CPC, which mandates that if the necessary steps to bring legal representatives on record are not taken within the prescribed time, the appeal shall abate.

In summary, the Tribunal emphasized the importance of complying with legal procedures to bring legal representatives on record in case of a party's death during proceedings. The failure of the revenue to fulfill this requirement led to the dismissal of their appeals as per the provisions of Order XXII rule 4 of the CPC.

---