Statutory deeming of legal representative as assessee extends to default consequences and penalty for unpaid assessed tax.

A legal representative deemed an assessee under section 24B(2) is treated as an assessee for the full consequences of that assessment, including default and penalty exposure. The statutory fiction is applied to its logical end: once the representative is assessed on the deceased person's income and served with a notice of demand, failure to pay the assessed tax brings the representative within the default provisions and attracts penalty under section 46(1). The distinction between an assessee and other persons cannot be used to cut down the effect of the deeming provision.

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Issues: Whether a legal representative, deemed to be an assessee for the assessment of the deceased person's income under section 24B(2), could be treated as an assessee in default and visited with penalty under section 46(1) for non-payment of the assessed tax.

Analysis: The definition of assessee in the unamended Act covered a person by whom income-tax is payable. A legal representative assessed under section 24B(2) was not a mere debtor after assessment; the statutory fiction made him an assessee for the full purpose of assessment and the consequences flowing from it. That fiction had to be carried to its logical end and could not be cut down by distinguishing between an assessee and other person in section 29. Since the respondent had been assessed as if he were the assessee, had received a notice of demand under section 29, and had failed to comply, he fell within the default provisions of sections 45 and 46(1).

Conclusion: A legal representative assessed under section 24B(2) can be treated as an assessee in default and penalty under section 46(1) is exigible.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory fiction deeming a legal representative to be an assessee for assessment must be fully worked out, and the representative remains an assessee for the consequential default and penalty provisions arising from that assessment.

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