Agent as statutory assessee for non-resident agricultural income leaves the principal owner's tax liability intact.

Section 11 of the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 allows agricultural income of a non-resident to be assessed in the name of the owner or the agent. Once notice under section 11(2) is served, the agent is treated as the statutory assessee and may be proceeded against for assessment and recovery. That mechanism is meant to address the practical difficulty of pursuing an owner abroad, but it does not extinguish the non-resident principal's underlying liability. The agent's liability operates in addition to the principal's liability, and the tax charge continues to attach to the income derived through the agent. The question whether the person managing the estate was in fact the agent was treated as a factual matter outside the proceedings.

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Issues: Whether, in assessments of agricultural income of a non-resident owner, the agent can be proceeded against as the statutory assessee and whether the principal owner remains liable for recovery of the assessed tax.

Analysis: Section 11 of the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 authorises assessment of the agricultural income of a non-resident either in the name of the owner or in the name of the agent. Once notice under section 11(2) is served, the agent is treated as the assessee for the purposes of the Act and may be proceeded against for assessment and recovery. The provision is intended to avoid the difficulty of pursuing an owner who is abroad, but it does not extinguish the substantive liability of the owner. The agent is made liable in addition to the principal, and the charge on agricultural income continues to attach to the person deriving it through the agent. The disputed question whether the particular person managing the estate was the agent was treated as a factual controversy not fit for determination in these proceedings.

Conclusion: The assessments and the recovery proceedings against the petitioner were held valid, and the challenge to quash them was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Under section 11 of the Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950, service of notice on the agent enables assessment and recovery against the agent as statutory assessee, but the non-resident principal's liability is not extinguished.

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