2011 (2) TMI 916 - AT - Income Tax

Provisions of order XXII rule 4 of the CPC - The order XXII of Code of Civil Procedure 1908 which laid down the procedure to bring the legal representatives on record in case the plaintiff or the defendant dies during the course of pendency of the suit or an appeal - Rule 4 of the said order specifically deals with the procedure to bring the LRs on record in case of death of one of the several defendants or of the sole defendant - It was further stated in that rule where within the time limit by law no application is made under sub-rule 1 that suit shall abate as against the deceased defendant. Hence the revenue was informed about the death of the assessee on 21-1-2010 and thereafter various opportunities were afforded to them to bring the LRs on record but no efforts were made by the revenue despite various last opportunities - Therefore in the light of provisions of order XXII rule 4 of the CPC the appeal filed by the revenue are abated and accordingly dismiss the same. - appeals of the revenue are dismissed.

Summary

Issues:
Failure to bring legal representatives on record after the death of the assessee during the appeal process.

Analysis:
The appeals were filed by the revenue against the order of the CIT(A). During the pendency of the appeal, the assessee passed away, and the Tribunal was informed about this by the counsel of the deceased assessee. Despite multiple adjournments and directions to bring the legal representatives (LRs) on record, the revenue made no efforts to comply. The Tribunal noted the revenue's lack of seriousness in prosecuting the appeal by bringing the LRs on record.

The provisions of rule 26 of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1963 state that if a respondent dies during the appeal, the legal representatives must be brought on record, and the appeal shall not abate. However, no specific time limit for bringing the LRs on record is mentioned in the Income-tax appellate tribunal rules. In such cases, general laws like Order XXII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, which detail the procedure for bringing legal representatives on record in case of a party's death during proceedings, should be followed. Rule 4 of Order XXII specifically outlines the procedure to bring LRs on record in case of the death of a defendant.

Since the revenue failed to make any efforts to bring the LRs on record despite being informed of the assessee's death and given multiple opportunities, the Tribunal concluded that the appeals filed by the revenue had abated. Therefore, the appeals of the revenue were dismissed based on the provisions of Order XXII rule 4 of the CPC, which mandates that if the necessary steps to bring legal representatives on record are not taken within the prescribed time, the appeal shall abate.

In summary, the Tribunal emphasized the importance of complying with legal procedures to bring legal representatives on record in case of a party's death during proceedings. The failure of the revenue to fulfill this requirement led to the dismissal of their appeals as per the provisions of Order XXII rule 4 of the CPC.