Tax proceedings against a deceased dealer can continue against legal representatives where the statute expressly permits it

Tax proceedings cannot be maintained against a deceased dealer, so assessment and penalty orders passed after death could not stand. However, Section 23 of the A.P. VAT Act expressly authorises assessment, recovery, and related appellate or revisional proceedings against the executor, administrator, successor in title, or other legal representative, with liability limited to the deceased dealer's estate. On that basis, the impugned orders were set aside and the matter was remitted to the assessing authority to proceed afresh after notice to the legal representatives.

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Issues: Whether assessment and penalty proceedings could be continued against a deceased dealer, and whether such proceedings could be pursued against the legal representatives under Section 23 of the A.P. VAT Act.

Analysis: The dealer had died before the assessment and penalty orders were passed. As a matter of law, proceedings cannot be initiated or continued against a dead person. Section 23 of the A.P. VAT Act, however, expressly provides that where a dealer is dead, the executor, administrator, successor in title, or other legal representative is liable to submit returns, face assessment under Section 21, and discharge the tax, interest, and penalty from the estate of the deceased dealer. The provision also makes the appellate and revisional process applicable to such assessment as if the legal representative were the dealer.

Conclusion: The assessment and penalty orders against the deceased dealer could not stand, but the proceedings were capable of being continued against the petitioner as a legal representative and other class-I heirs.

Final Conclusion: The impugned assessment and penalty orders were set aside and the matter was remitted to the assessing authority to proceed afresh in accordance with law after notice to the legal representatives.

Ratio Decidendi: Tax proceedings cannot be maintained against a dead person, but where the statute so provides, they may validly continue against the legal representatives of the deceased dealer.

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