Death of Noticee before Initiation of Proceeding u/s 148A(b) of Income Tax Act: Calcutta HC set aside the Assessment Order [Read Order]

In a recent case, the Calcutta High Court set aside the assessment order as, the death of the noticee happened before the initiation of proceeding under section 148 A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Mr Sushil Kumar Gupta, the petitioner has challenged the impugned assessment order dated 28th March 2023, under Section 147 read with Section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 relating to the assessment year 2013-2014 on the ground that the aforesaid impugned assessment proceeding is null and void from the initiation of the impugned proceeding by the issuance of notice under Section 148A(b) of the Act issued on 18th May 2022 since much before initiation of proceeding the noticee Nirmala Gupta had expired on 3rd March 2019.

The petitioner who is the husband of the noticee was not aware of the issuance of any notice under Section 148A(b) of the Act or the order under Section 148A(d) of the Act and he came to know about the impugned proceeding for the first time after the service of notice under Section 142(1)  of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Mr Mitra, who appeared for the respondent's Income Tax Authority is not in a  position to deny the aforesaid legal and factual position that before initiation of the impugned proceeding the noticee had died and that under the law no proceeding can be initiated against a dead person. A single-judge bench comprising Justice Md. Nizamuddin set aside the aforesaid impugned assessment proceeding including the assessment order dated 28^th March 2023 with liberty to the Assessing officer concerned to initiate any fresh proceeding by law.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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