Reassessment notice to a deceased person is jurisdictionally invalid, and consequent income-tax proceedings cannot survive.

Reassessment notices issued under section 148 in the name of a deceased assessee are jurisdictionally invalid because the notice is the foundation for reopening and must be addressed to the correct person. Proceedings founded on such a notice, including consequential assessment orders, cannot be sustained without proper impleadment of the legal representative under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The impugned notices and orders were quashed, while the Department was left free to proceed in accordance with law against the legal representative.

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Issues: Whether reassessment notices and consequential orders issued in the name of a deceased person were sustainable, and whether the proceedings could continue without impleading the legal representative under the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The petition challenged notices and assessment orders issued after the assessee's death. The Court noted that notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is the foundation for reopening assessment and must be issued in the name of the correct person. A notice issued to a deceased person cannot confer jurisdiction to reopen assessment. The Court also noted that the effect of section 159 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 had not been considered in the earlier decision relied upon, but followed that decision for the present case and held the impugned proceedings unsustainable.

Conclusion: The notices and consequential orders issued in the name of the deceased were quashed, while the Department was left at liberty to proceed in accordance with law against the legal representative.

Ratio Decidendi: A reassessment notice issued in the name of a deceased person is jurisdictionally invalid, and consequential proceedings founded on such notice cannot be sustained.

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