The Delhi High Court in the case of Meenu Gupta vs Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax dealt with the validity of reassessment proceedings under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act initiated against a deceased assessee, Sh. Vipin Gupta, affirming that reassessment proceedings initiated against a deceased person are unsustainable in law. The writ petition was filed by his wife and legal heir, challenging the issuance of notices under Section 148-A(b) and Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Sh. Vipin Gupta, the assessee, passed away on 17.08.2019. A notice under Section 148-A (b) dated 15.02.2024, seeking to reassess his income for the Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21, was issued in his name. The notice, received by the petitioner, was served via registered post on 19.02.2024. The petitioner, in her response on 26.02.2024, informed the tax authorities of her husband’s death and clarified that his salary income for the year had already been subjected to TDS under Section 192, leaving no income that had escaped assessment.
Despite this, the revenue authorities proceeded to issue an order under Section 148-A(d) and a notice under Section 148 on 21.03.2024 in the name of the deceased.
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The petitioner, represented by Mr. Kalrav Mehrotra, argued that the reassessment proceedings were void ab initio as the notices were issued in the name of a dead person. This was a violation of established legal principles, as no jurisdiction can be assumed over a deceased individual, and the Revenue was informed of the death before any further action.
The revenue, represented by Mr. Ruchir Bhatia, contended that the notices were in line with the legislative provisions of the Income Tax Act.
The Court referred to the precedent set in Savita Kapila v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, where it was held that the issuance of a notice in the name of a deceased person is not valid. Similarly, in Sangeeta Goyal v. Commissioner of Customs (Exports), it was reiterated that show-cause notices against deceased individuals cannot be sustained. The Gujarat High Court in Chandresh Jayantibhai Patel v. ITO also observed that legal heirs are under no statutory obligation to inform the tax department of the death of an assessee.
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In this case, the Court noted that the legal heir had already informed the department about the death of Sh. Vipin Gupta, yet the department proceeded with the reassessment. The Court, comprising Justice Ravinder Dudeja and Justice Yashwanth Varma, held that the notices under Section 148-A(b), the order under Section 148-A(d), and the subsequent notice under Section 148 were invalid as they were issued to a deceased person. The notices were thus set aside, affirming that reassessment proceedings initiated against a deceased person are unsustainable in law.
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