Legal representative not treated as assessee for recovery under section 46(2); collection fiction stays limited to assessment.

A legal representative of a deceased assessee, whose income was assessed under section 24B(2), was held not to be an "assessee" for recovery under section 46(2) of the Income-tax Act. The legal fiction in section 24B(2) was confined to assessment and did not extend to collection, which was dealt with separately under section 29. The Court applied the earlier reasoning on section 46(1) and held that recovery proceedings under section 46(2) require arrears due from an assessee. The certificate issued against the legal representative was therefore without jurisdiction, and the consequential recovery notice was invalid.

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Issues: Whether a legal representative of a deceased assessee, whose income was assessed under section 24B(2), is an "assessee" for the purpose of recovery proceedings under section 46(2) of the Income-tax Act.

Analysis: The legal fiction in section 24B(2) was held to operate only for the purpose of assessment and not for collection of tax. Collection was provided for separately by section 29. The reasoning applied in the earlier decision on section 46(1) was extended to section 46(2): for recovery under section 46(2), the arrears must be due from an assessee, and a legal representative, though liable to pay the assessed tax, is not converted into an assessee for the collection stage. The Court held that extending the fiction to recovery would impose an unwarranted vicarious liability without statutory sanction.

Conclusion: The legal representative was not an assessee within the meaning of section 46(2), the certificate issued under that provision was jurisdiction, and the consequential recovery notice was invalid. Relief was granted by certiorari.

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