Law: Income Tax Act, 1961

Section: 143(2),159(2),251

Income-tax---Legal representative---Assessment proceedings---Death of assessee--¬Proceedings can continue against legal representatives---Assessment without notice to legal representatives---Not a nullity or invalid ---A.C.C. setting aside assessment and directing I.T.O. to make fresh assessment after making legal representatives party and issuing notice---Direction valid and legal---Indian Income Tax Act, 1961, Ss.143(2), 159(2), 251. Pending assessment proceedings against him, the assessee died. The Income Tax Officer thereafter served a notice under section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, on the advocate the assessee and completed the assessment. On appeal by some of the legal representatives of the assessee, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that in spite of the death of the assessee, the proceedings could be continued against the legal representatives and, therefore, they were not invalid or a nullity, but that it was necessary to issue notice to them and setting aside the order of the Income Tax Officer directed him to make a fresh assessment after making the legal representatives party to the proceedings from the stage at which they stood when the assessee died. The Appellate Tribunal affirmed the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. On a writ petition by a legal representative: Held, that, in view of section 159(2) of the Act relating to liabilities of the legal representatives and section 2,51 enabling the Appellate Assistant Commissioner to remand a matter to the assessing authority to make a fresh assessment in accordance with law, there was no scope for interference in exercise of the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of the High Court. The Income Tax Officer was justified in continuing the proceedings but had committed only an error of procedure in not issuing notice to the legal representatives regarding further proceedings to be continued and, therefore, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and the Tribunal were right in coming to the conclusion that there was a procedural defect and not absence of jurisdiction and in remanding the matter to the Income Tax Officer for proceeding afresh from the stage at which the proceedings…

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