Legal representative under income tax law must be the proper estate representative; orders against a deceased person cannot stand.

The expression "legal representative" under the Income-tax Act takes its meaning from the Code of Civil Procedure and includes the person who in law represents a deceased person's estate. Where the deceased had executed a will appointing executors and probate proceedings were already initiated, the executors were the proper representatives to be brought on record. An appellate order passed in the name of a person who had died could not be sustained, and proceedings had to continue only against the correct representative of the estate. The CIT(A) and ITAT orders were set aside and the matter remanded for fresh action in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the person bringing the appeal on behalf of the deceased assessee was a legal representative competent to represent the estate, and whether the appellate orders passed after the assessee's death could stand.

Analysis: The expression "legal representative" under the Income-tax Act takes its meaning from the Code of Civil Procedure and covers a person who in law represents the estate of a deceased person. The deceased had executed a will appointing executors, and proceedings for probate were already initiated. In that setting, the executors were the proper persons to represent the estate. An order passed in the name of a person who was no longer alive could not be sustained, and the appellate authorities ought to have proceeded against the proper representative of the estate.

Conclusion: The orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal were set aside and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) to proceed in accordance with law after the proper representative of the deceased's estate was brought on record.

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