Wife liable to reply Notice issued U/s. 133(6) to deceased Husband

The Noticee even if deceased, the Legal Representatives or the persons who inherit the estate of the deceased persons will have to comply with the said Notice for furnishing the requisite information. The very purpose of the provisions of Section 133 (6) of the Act is to elicit the requisite information and details from the person concerned.

8. From the reply filed by the petitioner, the wife of the deceased Government Servant, prima facie, it appears that a large sum of Rs. 95.83 lakh was found to be in the credit of the Bank Account of a First Division Clerk of the City Civil Court, Bangalore, which was bound to raise a doubt or a query in the mind of the Income Tax Officer and therefore, when the Information was called from the Noticee under Section 133 (6) of the Act, the fact of death of the Noticee may not have been in the knowledge of the concerned Income Tax Officer. There is nothing on record to show that the fact of death was within the knowledge of the Respondent – Income Tax Officer and he still issued the Notice to a deceased person. The Legal Representatives including the petitioner, wife of late Mr.T.V. Sathyanarayana before this Court cannot protest or deny the obligation to furnish such information including the Bank details and relevant vouchers to be obtained from the concerned Bank of the husband of the present petitioner. After all, the wife of a person cannot plead ignorance about a huge cash inflow in her husband’s bank account. Cutting short of such inquiry by invoking the extra-ordinary jurisdiction of this Court is likely to defeat the very purpose for which the said salutary provision has been enacted in the Income Tax Act, 1961.