Reassessment notices issued in the name of a deceased assessee were held invalid where the Department had prior notice of death.

Reassessment notices and consequential orders issued in the name of a deceased assessee were invalid where the Department had already been informed of the death with supporting documents before taking action. The court noted that the notice under section 148A(d), reassessment order, assessment order, and demand notice were all addressed to a dead person, and this defect was fatal. A plea based on section 159 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was rejected because no notice had been issued to the legal representatives, and proceedings could not bind them on the basis of notices issued to the deceased. The impugned notices and orders were quashed and set aside.

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Issues: Whether reassessment notices and consequential orders issued in the name of a deceased assessee, after the Department had notice of the death, were null and void and liable to be quashed.

Analysis: The assessee had died before the impugned notices and orders were issued, and the Department had been informed of the death with supporting documents well before the impugned action. Despite such notice, the reassessment notice, order under section 148A(d), assessment order, and demand notice were issued in the name of the deceased. The plea based on section 159 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was rejected because no notice was issued to the legal representatives and proceedings cannot bind them when the notices themselves were addressed to a dead person.

Conclusion: The impugned notices and consequential orders were held to be null and void and were quashed and set aside.

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