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TMI Blog2019 (3) TMI 1165X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nimus or mens rea on the part of the assessee concerned, naturally, as legal representative, the wife cannot be held liable to defend those penalty proceedings or be held guilty of any mens rea on the part of the husband. Therefore, unless the penalty proceedings are concluded against a living assessee, the legal heirs cannot be held liable to face those proceedings or pay any sum determined as penalty payable under Section 271 (1) (c) of the Act. - Decided in favour of the Assessee and against the Revenue. - T.C.A.Nos. 136 to 141 of 2019 - - - Dated:- 21-2-2019 - Dr. Justice Vineet Kothari And Mr. Justice C.V. Karthikeyan For the Appellant : Mr.T.R.Senthil Kumar, Senior Standing Counsel, assisted by Mrs.K.G.Usha Rani, Junior Stand ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Hon'ble Karnataka High Court (supra) wherein it has been held that if an income is unearthed in the course of investigation or enquiry conducted in the course of assessment, act of an assessee amounts to concealment and furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income. Therefore, the corresponding findings in the order of the CIT(A) go against the settled law u/s 271 (1) (c) as well as 271 (1) (c) explanation 5A of the Act and not liable to be affirmed. Hence, the impugned penalty imposed by the Assessing Officer stands revived. 4. However, dealing with the penalty proceedings against the present assessee Smt.S.Gowri, wife of late Sri Shanmugam, the learned Tribunal set aside the said penalty under Section 271 (1) (c) of the Ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... been payable by the deceased person under this Act, if he had not died. Either the wealth-tax assessed or any other sum is payable by the executor, administrator or other legal representative, out of the estate of the deceased person. The prerequisite of sub-s.(1) of s.19 is that there should be an assessment and the liability to pay the wealth-tax or any other sum should arise during the lifetime of the deceased. It is an admitted position that during the lifetime of the deceased, the returns of wealth for the respective assessment years were filed by the deceased and the wealth-tax assessments were also completed. It is also an admitted position that notices for penalty under ss.18(1) (a), 18 (1) (c) and 15B were issued on the deceased a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... No question of law, much less any substantial question of law, arises out of the order of the Tribunal deleting penalty. - Smt. Yawarunnissa Begum vs. WTO (1975) 100 ITR 645 (AP), CWT vs. V. Varadrajan (1980) 122 ITR 1014 (Mad), Rameshwar Prasad vs. CWT (1980) 17 CTR (All) 71; (1980) 124 ITR 77 (All), CWT vs. Abdul Mazid Khan (1983) 35 CTR (MP) 316 : (1984) 147 ITR 53 (MP), CWT vs. Banoo E.Cowasji (1985) 152 ITR 16 (MP), CWT vs. Rani Sajjan Kumari (1985) 48 CTR (Raj) 331 : (1985) 155 ITR 438 (Raj), Ved Prakash Narang vs. CWT (1988) 68 CTR (All) 80; (1988) 172 184 (All) and CWT vs. H.S.Chauhan (2000) 163 CTR (Del) 495 : (2000) 245 ITR 704 (Del) concurred with ; Late Rani H.R.Laxmi (Estate) through B.K.Singh vs. CWT (1997) 228 ITR 372 (P ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (including interest and penalty) in the hands of legal representatives, proceedings taken against the deceased before his death would continue against the legal representatives. Clause (b) of Section 159 deals with a situation where no proceeding were initiated against the deceased, but could have been initiated against him, since he had expired and the same can be initiated against the legal representatives. In case, where the deceased earned income but did not file the return and expired, notice to file the return can be issued to the legal representatives and proceedings can be taken against the legal representatives. Clause (a) deals with a situation where proceedings have been initiated against the deceased, when he was alive, but befo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e cannot be held liable to defend those penalty proceedings or be held guilty of any mens rea on the part of the husband. Therefore, unless the penalty proceedings are concluded against a living assessee, the legal heirs cannot be held liable to face those proceedings or pay any sum determined as penalty payable under Section 271 (1) (c) of the Act. 9. It is also imperative to mention here that as against the decision of the Gujarat High Court in the case of Late Shrimant F.P.Gaekwad (cited supra), an appeal in S.L.P.No.8956 of 2009 has been filed and the same got dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 06.04.2009. 10. As such, respectfully following the said judgments of the Gujarat High Court and also the Madras High Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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