S. Abdul Kaboor Vs Deputy State Tax Officer (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court on July 25, 2025, set aside a tax order issued against a deceased assessee by the Deputy State Tax Officer. The court ruled that the order, dated August 12, 2024, for the Financial Year 2019-20, was invalid as no proper notice was served on the legal heirs of the deceased.
The petitioner, S. Abdul Kaboor, son of the late Mohammed Musthafa Rowther Sabiya Beevi, proprietor of Royal Tiles and Fittings, challenged the order. His mother, the assessee, passed away on December 30, 2022. Despite this, a show cause notice in Form GST DRC-01 was issued on June 18, 2024, followed by the impugned order. The petitioner stated that his family was unaware of these communications as they were issued through the web portal and only learned about the order after coercive recovery steps were initiated.
A rectification application filed by the petitioner, highlighting the assessee’s demise and lack of notice to legal heirs, was rejected by the tax authorities on February 19, 2025. The High Court found the rejection of the rectification application problematic, noting it failed to consider the fundamental issue of improper notice to the legal representatives.
