Post-death tax assessment requires express statutory machinery; excise proceedings could not continue against legal representatives.

Assessment proceedings under the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 could not continue against the legal representatives of a deceased sole proprietor because the statute contained no express machinery provision authorising assessment against the estate or heirs. The term "assessee" was treated as referring to a living person liable to excise duty, while section 11 was confined to recovery of sums already payable and could not cure the absence of assessment machinery. The reasoning drew support from the Income-tax Acts, where Parliament had enacted specific provisions for post-death assessment and recovery. In a taxing statute, liability cannot be implied, and the proceedings against the legal representatives were therefore without jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether, in the absence of an express machinery provision, assessment proceedings under the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 could continue against the legal representatives of a sole proprietor after his death.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 and the Central Excise Rules, 1944 showed that the term "assessee" referred to a living person liable to pay excise duty, with no provision analogous to the Income-tax Act enabling continuation of assessment proceedings against the estate or legal representatives of a deceased person. Section 11 dealt only with recovery of sums already payable, and could not supply the missing machinery for assessment. The comparison with the Income-tax Act, 1922 and the Income-tax Act, 1961 demonstrated that where Parliament intended assessment to continue after death, it enacted specific provisions such as Section 24B and Sections 159 and 168. In a taxing statute, nothing can be read in or implied to create liability where the statute does not clearly provide for it.

Conclusion: The proceedings against the legal representatives could not be continued under the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, and the assessment against them was without jurisdiction.

Ratio Decidendi: In a taxing statute, the liability of a deceased person's estate or legal representatives cannot be enforced unless the statute contains a clear charging provision and an express machinery provision authorising assessment or recovery against them.

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