S. Rekha Vs Commercial Tax Officer (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court has set aside a Goods and Services Tax (GST) demand raised by the Commercial Tax Officer against a proprietor despite being formally notified of the taxpayer’s death. The court ruled that notices and orders issued to a deceased person were void and without legal standing. However, the court granted the tax department the liberty to initiate fresh proceedings against the legal heirs of the deceased.
The case, W.P.No. 10565 of 2025, was filed by the legal heirs of the late M.K. Girish, proprietor of the firm “M.K.M. & Sons”. The petitioners informed the court that Mr. Girish passed away on February 25, 2021. His death was formally intimated to the Commercial Tax Officer through an online application submitted on June 29, 2022.
Despite this intimation, the tax department continued to issue notices and subsequently passed a demand order on February 26, 2025, all in the name of the deceased individual. One of the legal heirs, M.K. Nithish, had filed a reply to the department, yet the impugned order was issued.
The petitioners argued before the court that any notice or order issued to a person who is no longer alive is inherently void ab initio (void from the beginning) and should be set aside. Their counsel referenced previous orders from the Madras High Court in similar matters, specifically citing the decisions in W.P.No. 35411 of 2023, dated December 19, 2023, and W.P.No. 14728 of 2024, dated June 13, 2024, where assessment orders issued against deceased individuals under similar circumstances were set aside.
