Notice Issued Against Dead Person Is Invalid; Participation Of Legal Heirs In Proceedings Doesn't Make It Legal: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court stated that notice issued against a dead person is invalid and participation of legal heirs of deceased in the proceedings won't make it legal. The Division Bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and K.V. Jayakumar observed that “the consent of the parties cannot confer jurisdiction to the assessing authority for initiation of an action which is otherwise illegal and 'non-est'.” In this case, the appellants are the legal heirs of Late assessee who expired on 30.10.2021. Notice dated 27.03.2023 was served on the address of the late assessee. On receipt of the notice, the 1st appellant appeared before the Assessing Officer and informed him about the death of the assessee. Thereafter, the Revenue issued an order dated 10.04.2023 under Clause (d) of Section 148A of the Act in the name of the deceased assessee. Following that, he also issued a notice dated 10.04.2023 under Section 148 of the Act in the name of the deceased assessee. The appellant filed a writ before the High Court stating that the assessment proceedings sought to be initiated under Section 147 of the Act is unsustainable. However, the Single Judge dismissed the petition. The assessee submitted that the notice issued in the name of a dead person is not valid and in the absence of issuance of a valid notice, the assessment proceedings sought to be initiated under Section 147 is unsustainable. The department submitted that the notices issued to the dead person under Sections 148A(b) and 148A of the Act are only mere irregularities, which can be cured. Since the legal heirs of the deceased assessee have already participated in the proceedings, they are estopped from taking a different plea in the writ petition. The bench stated that the “the notices issued under Sections 148A(b) and 148 of the Act in the name of a dead person are invalid and 'non-est' in the eye of law. It is a nullity and not a mere irregularity which could be cured. It is true that, on the receipt of the above said notices, the legal heirs of the deceased Naringaparambail Bhaskaran/appellants herein appeared before the assessing authority. However, that by itself would not change the situation.” The bench opined that the consent of the parties cannot confer jurisdiction to the assessing authority for initiation of an action which is otherwise illegal and 'non-est'. The bench disagreed with the view of the Single Judge that the legal heirs of the deceased assessee are estopped from taking a different stand in the writ petition, since they have appeared before the assessing authority and participated in the proceedings. “the initiation of proceedings against a dead person under Sections 148A(b) and 148 of the Income Tax Act are illegal and 'non-est'.” added the bench. In view of the above, the bench allowed the appeal. Case Title: N. Binoj v. Income Tax OfficerCitation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 822 Case Number: WA NO. 2093 OF 2023 Counsel for Appellant/ Assessee: Latha Anand Counsel for Respondent/ Department: Keerthivas Giri Click Here To Read/Download The Order

Notice Issued Against Dead Person Is Invalid; Participation Of Legal Heirs In Proceedings Doesn't Make It Legal: Kerala High Court

Mehak Dhiman

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