Legal representative liability governs pre-death income assessment where an administrator represents the deceased's estate.

Where an administrator has been appointed for a deceased person's estate, income accrued to or received by the deceased during lifetime must be assessed in the hands of that administrator as the legal representative under section 159 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The statutory scheme treats the administrator as the proper representative of the estate for assessment and recovery purposes, and section 168 applies only to post-death income of the estate, not to the deceased's pre-death income. Section 166 does not override this framework. Reassessment against the widow as sole heir was therefore not sustainable where the administrator represented the estate.

---

---

Issues: Whether income which accrued to or was received by the deceased during his lifetime could be assessed on the sole heir when an administrator had been appointed for the estate.

Analysis: Section 159 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 fastens liability on the legal representative for sums payable by the deceased and permits assessment, reassessment and recovery proceedings against such representative. The expression "legal representative" takes its meaning from section 2(29) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 read with section 2(11) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. In the presence of an order appointing an administrator under the Indian Succession Act, the estate stood represented by the administrator for the relevant period. Section 168 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 dealt with post-death income of the estate in the hands of an executor, administrator or other person administering the estate, and was therefore not the governing provision for income earned by the deceased before death. Section 166 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 did not displace the statutory scheme where assessment had to be made on the legal representative.

Conclusion: The assessment for the pre-death income had to be made on the administrator as legal representative, and not on the sole heir.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the Revenue by holding that the reassessment could validly proceed against the proper legal representative, namely the administrator of the estate, and not against the widow as sole heir at the relevant time.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an administrator has been appointed for the estate of a deceased person, reassessment of income accrued to or received by the deceased during lifetime must be made on the administrator as the legal representative under section 159 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

---