Legal representatives in tax appeals must be impleaded after death, and orders passed without hearing can be quashed.

Where an assessee dies during pendency of tax appeals, the legal representatives must be brought on record under the applicable procedural rules, and abatement may be set aside on an application showing sufficient cause and subject to limitation law. In the absence of material showing prior knowledge of the appeals, the legal representative is entitled to seek impleadment and restoration of the appeals. An appellate order passed without hearing the affected party is also vulnerable for breach of natural justice and cannot stand where civil consequences follow.

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Issues: (i) Whether the appeals preferred by the deceased assessee against the assessment orders stood abated for want of timely impleadment of legal representatives and whether the first petitioner could seek impleadment and setting aside of abatement; (ii) Whether the appellate order passed without affording the first petitioner an opportunity of hearing was vitiated for breach of natural justice.

Issue (i): Whether the appeals preferred by the deceased assessee against the assessment orders stood abated for want of timely impleadment of legal representatives and whether the first petitioner could seek impleadment and setting aside of abatement.

Analysis: Rule 76 of the Kerala Value Added Tax Rules, 2005 requires the legal representatives to be brought on record where an appellant dies during pendency of the appeal, failing which the proceedings abate as regards the deceased. Rule 77 of the said Rules permits an application to set aside the abatement and applies Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 to such an application. In the absence of material showing that the first petitioner had knowledge of the pendency of the appeals at the time of death of the assessee, she was entitled to be afforded an opportunity to seek impleadment and to apply for setting aside the abatement.

Conclusion: The first petitioner was entitled to move applications for impleadment and for setting aside the abatement in the appeals relating to the earlier assessment orders.

Issue (ii): Whether the appellate order passed without affording the first petitioner an opportunity of hearing was vitiated for breach of natural justice.

Analysis: The appellate order itself indicated that the matter was disposed of without hearing the first petitioner. An adjudication affecting civil consequences cannot stand when passed without complying with the requirement of hearing the affected party.

Conclusion: The appellate order was liable to be interfered with and quashed for violation of the principles of natural justice.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was allowed with consequential directions enabling the first petitioner to seek impleadment and setting aside of abatement, and requiring fresh consideration of the appeal decided without hearing her, with interim deferment of recovery proceedings.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessee dies during the pendency of tax appeals, the legal representatives must be impleaded in accordance with the prescribed procedure, abatement may be set aside on sufficient cause, and an appellate order passed without hearing the affected party is vitiated by breach of natural justice.

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