9911796707
TMI Blog1980 (5) TMI 115X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... entatives of Shankar Lal Omar. 2. On 29th Nov., 1973 the ITO issued notices addressed to late Shankar Lal Omar though the legal representatives Kalawati Devi, Sheo Nath, Vishwa Nath and Ram Gopal in forming them that he had reasons to believe that their income chargeable to tax for the asst. yrs. 1965-66 to 1969-70 had escaped assessment and called upon them to file revised returns of their income in prescribed form for purposes of reassessment. Sheo Nath then filed fresh returns for various years in accordance with the settlement that had been arrived at between the parties. The ITO accepted those returns and vide his order dt. 20th Dec., 1973 he assessed the taxable income of late Shanker Lal Omar for various assessment years thus : 1965-66 ₹ 60,000 1966-67 ₹ 60,000 1967-68 ₹ 60,000 1968-69 ₹ 80,000 1969-70 ₹ 6,000 3. At the same time, the ITO also directed that notices for levy of penalty under ss. 274/271 (1)(a), 273 (b) and 271 (1)(c) of the IT Act be also issued to the assessees. On 28th Jan., 1976 the IAC issue notice under ss. 274 (2)/271 (1)(c) of the IT Act for the yrs. 1965-66 to 1968-69 addressed to Sheo Nath, legal representati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd for the purpose of levying any sum on the hands of the legal representative. In accordance with the provisions of sub-s. (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. 7. In view of the aforesaid provision, it is clear that the ITO was fully competent to even after the death of Shanker Lal Omar, initiate the proceedings for reopening the assessment made against him, by taking action against Shankar Lal's legal representatives and that he could do so by issuing notices for the purpose to those representatives. In the instant case the ITO issued identical notices for various assessment years on 29th Nov. 1973. The notice issued for the year 1968- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssessee, namely, Chandra Bhan Johur Mall (individual) had been misderscribed the notice also did not indicate that it was being issued to Sewa Lal Daga as the legal representative of deceased Chandr Bhan Johur Mall. 10. The facts of the two cases, cited by the counsel for the petitioner, are quite different form the facts of the case before us. As already explained, the notices issued in the instant case clearly indicated that they were meant for legal representatives of the deceased Shanker Lal Omar and that they were being required to answer the notices in such capacity. 11. We are, therefore of opinion that initiation of the proceedings is not vitiated because of the form in which the notices issued under s. 148 of the IT Act were addressed to the petitioner and other legal representatives of the deceased Shanker Lal Omar. 12. Learned counsel for the petitioner next urged that in the instant case even if it be held that the notice under s. 148 of the IT Act was properly addressed to the legal representative of the deceased Shanker Lal Omar, it was served only on one of them namely, Sheo Nath, The notice was not served upon the petitioner who was thus precluded from participat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cants requesting them to appear before him and to settle the manner in which the assets discovered in the raid were to be death with. The fact that it was Sheo Nath alone who attended the office of the CIT itself leads to an inference that he was doing so with the consent of an for and on behalf of all the applicants. If it had not been so, the petitioner and her other sons would themselves have taken independent steps to appear before the CIT and would have pursued the matter themselves. In the circumstances, we have no doubt that Sheo Nath had, during the settlement proceedings, been and for an on behalf of petitioner as well and that the settlement arrived at between him and the Department is binding on the petitioner also. Since in these proceedings Sheo Nath was acting for and no behalf of the petitioner, it was not at all necessary for the CIT to communicate the order passed by him to the petitioner separately. 15. It is also not disputed that ultimately re-assessment order has been passed on the basis of and in accordance with the settlement arrived at between the parties which, as we have stated in case of Gopal Das Mohta vs. Union of India (supra) wherein the validity of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... it has been held that penalty for furnishing wrong return in WT proceedings cannot be imposed upon the legal representatives to the deceased assessee. 19. It is significant to note that like the provisions contained in the WT Act, s. 24B of the IT Act, 1922 imposed a liability on the legal representatives only in respect of the tax payable by the deceased and not in respect of penalty or any other sum. However, s. 159 (1) of the IT Act which runs thus : "Where a person died, his legal representative shall be liable to pay any sum which deceased would have been liable to pay if he had not died in the like manner and to the same extent as the deceased." clearly makes the legal representatives liable not only for the tax payable by the deceased assessee but also for all other sums which the deceased would have been liable to pay had he not died. This clearly makes the legal representatives of the deceased assessee liable for the penalty which would have been payable by the deceased assessee had he not died. In our opinion, under . 159 of the IT Act, 1961 penalty proceedings for a default committed by deceased can be started or continued against the legal representative ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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