TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (11) TMI 1383
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....e order. The Id NFAC/CIT(A) ought to have considered facts of the case and legal position and cancelled penalty levied. It be so held now. 2. Without prejudice to the above gerund, the ld NFAC ought to have adhered to principles of natural justice and decided grounds on merits of the appellants case that the appellant being basically a farmer having no independent source of any income liable to income tax, there was not justification in making huge addition u/s 69 under section 69A OF THE Income tax Act, 1961 in respect of sums deposited in bank account and Fixed deposits in names of family members to which section 69A did not apply. There is thus no case for levying penalty on account of erroneous addition of deemed income. It be so held now. 3. The ld NFAC/CIT(A) further grievously erred in law and on facts in not appreciating that the very reassessment proceedings initiated were without jurisdiction in view of legal position decided by binding judgments that deposit in bank account cannot be a reason to believe that such deposits are income and have escaped assessment. The order of assessment itself being illegal and without jurisdiction, penalty levied ought t....
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....lf had also expired, and therefore the legal heir of the deceased assessee was not aware of the proceedings. The legal heir came to know of the matter only when he visited India and found that the bank accounts and fixed deposits had been attached, whereafter he consulted a tax practitioner and subsequently a senior chartered accountant in Ahmedabad who advised him to file the present appeal. Thus, the delay has been explained as being on account of circumstances beyond the control of the legal heir and not due to any deliberate or negligent conduct. 4. On careful consideration of the explanation furnished and the Affidavit placed on record, we are satisfied that sufficient cause has been shown for the delay in filing the appeal. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Collector, Land Acquisition v. Mst. Katiji [1987] 167 ITR 471 (SC) has laid down that while considering applications for condonation of delay, a liberal approach has to be adopted in order to advance substantial justice. In the facts of the present case, we find that the delay was occasioned due to the death of the assessee, subsequent non-service of notices to the legal heir, and the further death of the erstwhile Chartered....
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....ex-parte. The CIT(A) observed that filing of an appeal entails not only formal submission but also effective prosecution, and since the assessee failed to pursue the matter despite several opportunities, the appeal had to be adjudicated on the basis of material on record. On merits, the CIT(A) found no reason to interfere with the additions made by the Assessing Officer, as the assessee had not provided any supporting evidence to substantiate his claims either at the assessment stage or at the appellate stage. Accordingly, the CIT(A) upheld the additions made under section 144 read with section 147 and dismissed the appeal of the assessee. 7. The assessee is in appeal before us against the order passed by CIT(Appeals) dismissing the appeal of the assessee. 8. Before us, the Counsel for the assessee submitted that both the reassessment order and the penalty order are wholly without jurisdiction and bad in law as they were passed in the name of a deceased person. It was pointed out that Shri Ashvinbhai Umedbhai Patel had expired on 03.08.2013, whereas the notice under section 148 was issued much later on 28.03.2018. Since the assessee was already deceased at the time of issue o....
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....2025, the Counsel for the assessee submitted that the matter may be restored to the file of the CIT(A) for fresh consideration of the legal grounds and merits with proper opportunity of hearing to the legal heir. 9. In response, the Ld. DR placed reliance on the observations made by the Assessing Officer and Ld. CIT(Appeals) in their respective orders. 10. We have heard the rival contentions and perused the material on record. On going through the case records, we observe that at the time of issuance of notice by the Assessing Officer, the assessee had since expired. These facts are not in dispute. But also, it is an admitted fact that the legal heirs of the assessee neither surrendered the PAN nor did they participate in assessment proceedings. The Counsel for the assessee placed reliance on the case of Late Smt. Bhavnaben K. Punjani v. PCIT, ITA No. 1378/RJT/2017, where following the Delhi High Court judgment in Savita Kapila v. ACIT [2020] 118 taxmann.com 46 (Delhi) that legal heirs are not under any obligation to inform the Department regarding the demise of the assessee. Accordingly, since at the time of issuance of notice, the assessee had expired and the Act does not c....
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....he Assessing Officer despite having prior intimation about death of the assessee, still proceeds to pass an assessment order in the name of deceased assessee, without bringing the legal heirs of the assessee on record, then that assessment order is liable to be set aside. But, if the Assessing Officer has no knowledge about the death of the assessee, then it cannot be held that in all such cases, the Assessing Officer cannot proceed to pass an assessment order. If the facts reveal that legal heir of the assessee were aware about ongoing assessment proceedings, and chose not to participate knowingly and neither did they inform the Assessing Officer, then the assessment proceedings cannot be set aside as being non-est. 12. Now coming to the facts of the present case, we observe that the assessee had since expired in 2013 and re-assessment proceedings were initiated in 2018. However, legal heir of the assessee did not inform the concerned Assessing Officer regarding the death of the assessee nor was the PAN of the assessee surrendered. Accordingly, in so far as the Assessing Officer is concerned, there is nothing on record to show that he was aware of the death of the assessee at t....