The Supreme Court of India recently set aside an Order passed by the Bombay High Court regarding issuance of Notice under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to the legal representatives of a deceased taxpayer.
A Civil Appeal was instituted before the Supreme Court by Ghanyashyam Anil Dhanani with regards to a Notice under Section 148A(b) of the Act that had been issued on 24.05.2022 towards the Petitioner’s late father Anil Pragji Dhanani. The Petitioner, through his Chartered Accountant issued a reply to the authorities stating that the implicated Anil Pragji Dhanani had passed away on 02.09.2016, almost five years prior to the issuance of the Notice.
Complete Supreme Court Judgment on GST from 2017 to 2024 with Free E-Book Access, Click here
The Respondent Income Tax Officer Ward 17(1)(1), Mumbai on becoming aware of the Legal Representatives of the late taxpayer, issued original assessee order dated 30.07.2022 under Section 148A(d) and another order under Section 148A(d) in the name of the legal representatives of the deceased.
An Appeal was instituted before the Bombay High Court in vain as the High Court disposed of the Writ Petition holding that the legal representatives may take all other contentions available to them, except that the initial notice had been issued towards a dead person.
Complete Supreme Court Judgment on GST from 2017 to 2024 with Free E-Book Access, Click here
Additional Solicitor General Raghavendra P Shankar, Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR, Udai Khanna, Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Karan Lahiri, Navanjay Mahapatra appearing for the Respondents laid reference to the decision of the Supreme Court in Union of India and Ors. vs. Rajeev Bansal (2024) contending similarity in the issues discussed.
Conversely, Advocates Mihir Naniwadekar, Sreekar Aechuri, Aniket Chauhaan, Arjun Nayyar and AOR Prateek K Chadha representing the Petitioner submitted that besides the precedential mandates of Rajeev Bansal, the main impediment raised here was that the Bombay High Court had curtailed the right of the Appellant to invoke a specific contention – i.e, laying a bar on invoking the contention that the initial notice had been issued towards a dead person.
Complete Supreme Court Judgment on GST from 2017 to 2024 with Free E-Book Access, Click here
The Division Bench of the Supreme Court constituted by Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh observed the reasonable nature of the present petition and permitted the Petitioner to contend that the impugned Order had been issued in the name of dead person and deemed such an order to be defective.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court remanded the matter to the Assessing Officer with directions to consider all the contentions raised by the Appellant on their own merits.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
