Meena V Kumar Vs PCIT (Rajasthan High Court)
The Rajasthan High Court considered the issue of whether proceedings initiated under Section 148A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by issuance of notices under Section 148A(b) and culminating in an order under Section 148A(d), would be valid when the notices were initially issued to a deceased person.
The parties brought to the Court’s notice two earlier Division Bench decisions of the Rajasthan High Court: the order dated 27.05.2022 in Shri Radha Mohan Khandelwal Vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax and the order dated 27.02.2024 in Legal Heirs of Smt. Sneh Lata Bhandari Vs. Income Tax Officers & Ors.
After examining those decisions, the Court observed that the legal position was no longer res integra. It held that notices issued against a dead person and proceedings based on such notices are a nullity.
The Court further noted that in Legal Heirs of Smt. Sneh Lata Bhandari, the Division Bench had granted liberty to the Income Tax Department to reinitiate proceedings under Sections 148A(b) and 159 of the Income Tax Act. In that case, it was also directed that the period between the filing of the writ petition and its disposal would be excluded while computing the limitation period for initiating fresh proceedings.
