Case Law Details
Sri. Varadarajan Narayan Aiyar Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
ITAT Bangalore held that any proceedings taken against the deceased before his death shall be deemed to have been taken against the legal representative. However, penalty order passed in the name of death person after his death is invalid.
Facts- The assessee has sold a property for Rs.2,14,22,160 and received Rs.2,12,07,936 from the purchaser after deduction of TDS at 1% as per the provisions of section 194-IA of the Act. Out of the consideration received of Rs.2,12,07,936, Rs.2 crore was received by way of RTGS and balance Rs.12,07,936 was accepted in cash. Taking note of this cash transaction in respect of the transfer of the property, AO invoked the provisions of section 269SS of the Act. AO after affording opportunity of being heard to the assessee, imposed penalty of Rs.12,07,939 u/s 271D of the Act (being equal amount received by the assessee in cash).
CIT(A) upheld the same. Aggrieved by the order of penalty, the legal representative of the assessee has filed the present appeal before the Tribunal.
Conclusion- As per section 159(2) of the Act, mere initiation of penalty proceeding correctly is not sufficient, but it ought to have been completed also in accordance with the said provisions. In other words, any proceedings taken against the deceased before his death shall be deemed to have been taken against the legal representative and may be continued against the legal representative from the stage at which it stood on the date of death of the deceased. Therefore, when the penalty order was passed in the name of the assesee, he had already died. Hence, the penalty order is invalid.
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