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Showing contexts for: Death of assessee in Gowthaman S vs Income Tax Officer on 27 October, 2025Matching Fragments
3. The specific case of the petitioner is that the impugned orders and the notice under Section 156 have been passed and issued against a person, who died on 04.01.2024.
4. Specifically, the learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the proceedings ought to have been initiated only by issuing notice under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act to the deceased assessee during his lifetime or, alternatively, to his legal representatives such as the petitioner after the death of deceased assessee.
5. It is submitted that in the present case, a notice under Section 148A(b) was issued on 31.03.2024, i.e., after the death of the assessee, namely, https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 10/11/2025 02:16:14 pm ) Selvarasu, who died on 04.01.2024. Therefore, the impugned order dated 31.03.2024 passed under Section 148A(d), the Assessment Order dated 17.02.2025 passed under Section 147 read with Sections 144 read with Section 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and the consequential Notice of Demand under Section 156 dated 17.02.2025 are liable to be interfered with.
8. A reference was also made to the following passage from the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in Vipin Walia vs. Income Tax Officer, in [2016] 382 ITR 19 (Delhi):
“Section 159(2) of the Act makes a specific reference to a reassessment proceeding under Section 147 of the Act. While Section 159(2)(a) of the Act talks of a proceeding already taken against an assessee “before his death”. Section 159(2)(b) of the Act envisages any proceeding which could have been taken against the deceased if he had survived. It permits such a proceeding to be taken against the legal representatives of the deceased assessee even if it had not taken while the assessee was alive. Section 159(2)(b) is relevant as far as the present case is concerned.”
29. Section 159 reproduced above falls under Chapter XV — Liability in Special Cases.
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 10/11/2025 02:16:14 pm )
30. Thus, there is no doubt that proceedings have been initiated in accordance with Section 159(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
31. Therefore, it is not open for the petitioner to state that the assessment proceedings were initiated after the death of the deceased on 04.1.2024 without notice to the petitioner or other legal representatives. In fact, there are no records to indicate that after the deceased assessee died on 04.1.2024, the petitioner took steps to inform the Income Tax Department about the death of the deceased assessee.