T.Nigil Vs Commissioner of GST & Central Excise (Appeals) (Madras High Court)
Summary: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court considered a writ petition challenging an appellate order dated 30.10.2023, by which an order-in-original dated 02.01.2023 had been affirmed. The principal grievance was that the entire adjudication proceeding, beginning with the show cause notice dated 28.03.2022, had been undertaken in the name of the petitioner’s father even though he had died on 19.05.2021. The fact of his death had also been brought to the notice of the respondent authorities.
The petitioner contended that an assessment or adjudication made in the name of a dead person was a nullity. The appellate authority had rejected the objection by relying upon Section 93(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The High Court examined Section 93(1), which deals with liability to pay tax, interest or penalty where a person liable to pay such amounts dies. Clause (a) applies where the business carried on by the deceased is continued after his death by his legal representative or another person, while clause (b) applies where the business is discontinued and makes the legal representative liable out of the estate of the deceased, to the extent that the estate is capable of meeting the charge.
