TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (5) TMI 767
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....nds are related to the validity of issue of notice u/s 148 on a dead person and the consequent assessment order made in the name of his wife Smt.A.Nirmala Devi who happens to be the legal heir of the assessee. 3. Brief facts of the case are that the assessee Shri Aemala Venkateswara Rao has expired in the year 2009. For the A.Y. 2007-08, the AO issued the notice u/s 148 on 26.03.2012 i.e after the death of the assessee in the name of dead person. The notice was received by Smt.A.Nirmala Devi, W/o Shri Late Venkateswara Rao who replied to the Assessing Officer (AO) stating that her husband Shri Venkateswara Rao has expired in 2009 and did not furnish the return of income. Since there was no compliance for the notice u/s 148, the AO had issued the notice u/s 142(1) and the assessment was completed u/s 144 r.w.s 147 dated 20.03.2013 determining total income of Rs. 1,72,76,310/-and raised the demand of Rs. 64,50,000/-. Aggrieved by the order of the AO, the assessee went on appeal before the CIT(A) and the Ld.CIT(A) confirmed the order of the AO and dismissed the appeal of the assessee. 4. Aggrieved by the order of the CIT(A), the assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal. During ....
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....the purpose of levying any sum in the hands of the legal representative in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1),- (a) any proceeding taken against the deceased before his death shall be deemed to have been taken against the legal representative and may be continued against the legal representative from the stage at which it stood on the date of the death of the deceased; (b) any proceeding which could have been taken against the deceased if he had survived, may be taken against the legal representative; and (c) all the provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly. (3) The legal representative of the deceased shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be an assessee. 6.1. As per sub section 2(a) of section 159, in case the proceedings are already taken against the deceased person before his death, it is deemed that the proceedings are taken against the legal representative and the same would continue against the legal representative from the stage at which it stood on the date of death of the deceased. In the instant case the proceedings were initiated against the dead person after the death of the assessee, hence the noti....
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....is Court supports such a conclusion with the following reasons : Admittedly, the limitation period for issuance of notice for reopening expired on 31.3.2017. The impugned notice was issued on 30.3.2017 in the name of the dead person. On being intimated about the death, the Department sent the notice to the petitioner - his spouse to participate in the proceedings. This notice was well beyond the period of limitation, as it has been issued after 31.3.2017. If we approach the problem sans complicated facts, a notice issued beyond the period of limitation i.e. 31.3.2017 is a nullity, unenforceable in law and without jurisdiction. Thus, merely because the Department was not intimated about the death of the assessee, that cannot, by itself, extend the period of limitation prescribed under the Statute. Nothing has been placed before this Court by the Revenue to show that there is a statutory obligation on the part of the legal representatives of the deceased assessee to immediately intimate the death of the assessee or take steps to cancel the PAN registration. 18. In such circumstances, the question would be as to whether Section 159 of the Act would get attracted. The....
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....he case of Vipin Walia was followed in the decision of the High Court of Gujarat in the case of Rasid Lala, in which, the re-assessment proceedings were initiated against the dead person, that too, after a long delay. The Court pointed out that even if the provisions of Section 159 of the Act are attracted, in that case also, the notice was required to be issued against and in the name of the heirs of the deceased assessee and under the said circumstances, Section 159 of the Act shall not be of any assistance to the Revenue. 23. In the decision of the Delhi High Court in the case of Spice Entertainment Ltd., one of the questions, which fell for consideration, is as to whether such framing of assessment against a non existing entity or a dead person could be brought within the ambit of Section 292B of the Act and after referring to the decisions on the point including the decision of the Allahabad High Court in the case of Sri Nath Suresh Chand Ram Naresh Vs. CIT [reported in (2006) 280 ITR 396], it has been held that the provisions of Section 292B of the Act are not applicable and that framing of assessment against a non existing entity/person goes to the root of the matte....