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TMI Blog1977 (10) TMI 26X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment years involved are 1952-53 and 1953-54. The corresponding previous years are the financial years ending respectively on the 31st March, 1952, and on the 31st March, 1953. Madan Shum Sher Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal, hereinafter referred to as "the Rana", was during his lifetime assessed to income-tax in the non-resident refund circle, Bombay, in respect of dividends and interest on securities. He died intestate on or about 20th June, 1953. Letters of administration were issued by this court on the 6th January, 1954, in favour of the assessee. The Income-tax Officer, "A" Ward, District I(I), Calcutta, started proceedings under section 34 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, with notices under the said section issued on the 8th March, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... i such liability accrued to the Rana and was his personal liability. Further-more, the Rana was the person in actual receipt and enjoyment of the income during the said years. The liability of the administrator to be assessed to pay tax in respect of the income of the estate arose or accrued only subsequent to the death of the deceased under the general provisions of law and, therefore, the liability to pay tax in respect of the assessment years in question having arisen in respect of or accrued upon the Rana, the notices should not have been served upon the administrator in the manner in which they were done. The following question has been referred in this case as arising out of the order of the Tribunal: "Whether, on the facts and in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... E. Alfred [1962] 44 ITR 442, 445, 446, where the Supreme Court has analysed the said section 24B in the following manner: " The scheme of this section, which was inserted by the Second Amendment Act of 1933 and modified further by the Amendment Act of 1939, is as follows: Sub-section (1) of section 24B makes, inter alia, the legal representative liable to pay out of the estate of the deceased person to the extent to which the estate is capable of meeting the charge, the tax assessed as payable by such person or any tax which would have been payable by him under the Act, if he had not died. By this sub-section, a legal representative is made liable to pay the tax which might have been assessed but not paid by the deceased person or which m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ss and defective and no valid assessment can be made under section 34 on the strength of such a notice. Mr. Sen also cited First Additional Income-tax Officer v. Mrs. Suseela Sadanandan [1965] 57 ITR 168, where the Supreme Court reiterated that on the death of a person the Income-tax Officer has to proceed against the executor and/or the legal representative of the deceased. Lastly, Mr. Sen cited a decision of the Gujarat High Court in Chooharmal Wadhuram v. Commissioner of Income-tax [1968] 69 ITR 88, for the proposition that where there was a clear mistake in a notice under section 34 and the status of the assessee had been wrongly described, the same would not have the effect of invalidating the assessment proceedings and such mistak ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ains liable for payment of taxes accruing both before and after the death. After the death of the original assessee, the assessment proceedings can only continue in the name of the legal representatives. There is no restriction in section 34 for assessment of an estate of a deceased person nor does that section nor section 24B provide for any special form of notice of reassessment in such cases. In any event, there is no challenge as to the form of the notice. The only contention has been that the assessee as an administrator should not have been served with a notice under section 34 in respect of income accruing during the lifetime of the owner of the estate. The decision in James Anderson's case [1963] 47 ITR 229 (Bom) supports the case ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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