1989 (11) TMI 37

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..... 9, 1981. An assessment came to be made on September 8, 1981, in the name of Appanna as legal representative of the deceased assessee. After the completion of the assessment, the respondent issued notice to the petitioner proposing to levy penalty under section 18(2A)(b) of the Act. This notice is dated June 29, 1984. So far as the second assessment against late K. A. Mandanna is concerned, the assessment was completed during the lifetime of K. A. Mandanna on March 29, 1982. A notice under section 18(2A)(b) of the Act was issued to the petitioner, the brother of late K. A. Mandanna proposing to levy penalty. This notice is dated July 4, 1984 (annexure B). Objections were filed in response to both the notices by the chartered accountant .....

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..... ntentions, has relied upon the decisions of several High Courts rendered on the interpretation of section 19 of the Wealth-tax Act and derived support for his contention that the same principle should apply to section 24 of the Agricultural Income-tax Act also. The first decision rendered on this point is that of the Madras High Court in the case of CWT v. V. Varadarajan [1980] 122 ITR 1014. The next in the series is the decision of the Allahabad High Court in Rameshwar Prasad v. CWT [1980] 124 ITR 77 and CWT v. Rani Sajjan Kumari [1985] 155 ITR 438 (Raj) and he also relied on the decision of this court in the case of M. P. Laxman v. Agrl. ITO [1986] 157 ITR 1. In the first three decisions referred to above, the High Courts have taken t .....

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..... in M. P. Laxman's case [1986] 157 ITR 1 (Kar), at page 9, help the petitioners' case to some extent. It was ruled by this court that the assessing authority must consider the cause shown by the assessee before levying penalty. This observation must be considered along with the decisions of other High Courts rendered and which have categorically laid down that no penalty proceedings can be initiated on the legal representatives under section 18 of the Wealth-tax Act. Section 18(2A) is modelled on the Wealth-tax Act. It is virtually a replica of the Wealth-tax Act corresponding to section 19 of the Wealth-tax Act. Under section 24 of the Act, the legal representative is made liable to pay out of the estate of the deceased. Under sub-sectio .....

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