Reassessment & Penalty Orders Against Deceased Person Are Nullity: Gujarat HC

By CA Sandeep Kanoi Income Tax Judiciary July 8, 2026 2 comments

TaxGuru Citation: 2026 taxguru.in 8251
Case Name: Dhruvnesh Vijaykumar Patel Vs ACIT (Gujarat High Court)
Appeal Number: Only available for paid members
Date of Judgement/Order: Only available for paid members
Related Assessment Year: 2011-12
Courts: All High Courts, Gujarat High Court

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Dhruvnesh Vijaykumar Patel Vs ACIT (Gujarat High Court)

The petitioner, being the legal heir of the deceased assessee, challenged two orders relating to Assessment Year 2011–2012. One petition questioned the reassessment order passed under Section 144 read with Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, while the other challenged the penalty order passed under Section 271(1)(c). The principal ground raised was that the notices and consequential orders had been issued and concluded against a deceased person.

The deceased assessee died on 27.05.2018. Prior to that, a notice dated 27.03.2018 had been issued under Section 147 read with Section 148. Subsequently, a notice under Section 142(1) dated 11.07.2018 was issued. According to the petitioner, neither the deceased nor the legal heir received the notices, and no participation took place in the reassessment proceedings.

The Assessing Officer thereafter passed an assessment order dated 26.11.2018 under Section 144 read with Section 147, making an addition of Rs. 22,67,500 against the deceased. The Revenue also initiated penalty proceedings by issuing a notice under Section 274 read with Section 271(1)(c) dated 27.11.2018, followed by a penalty order dated 30.05.2019. The petitioner stated that he became aware of these proceedings only upon receiving a letter dated 07.02.2020.